John Verdon

Ghost Barn

A Dave Gurney Novel

Retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney becomes ensnared in a case of murderous political intrigue tearing apart a once bucolic Upstate New York town

The final, thrilling chapter in the fair play Dave Gurney saga finds the storied detective, often compared to Sherlock Holmes, confronted with an intractable nemesis while trying to fix his splintered marriage. 

Ghosts are returning from the past to trouble Gurney’s peace as a local election sees a powerful real estate mogul with plans for a massive development face off against a librarian and ardent conservationist. Protests erupt, battle lines are drawn between ideological camps, and the future of a once idyllic hamlet hangs in the balance. When bodies start turning up, and the local police turn a blind eye, Gurney suspects he’s the town’s only hope to stop the carnage that is tearing everybody apart. But involvement comes at a price. His last case nearly got his best friend killed, and it shattered his marriage. In the aftermath, he’s focused on breaking his reliance on police work in hopes of rekindling things with his wife, Madeleine. Can he ignore what’s happening and potentially let a murderer run amok or will he once again dive into the darkness, giving into his obsessive need to solve the unsolveable—even if it costs him Madeleine for good? One thing is clear: this harrowing, confounding case will be his last.

The Viper

A Dave Gurney Novel

Pushed to his breaking point and accused of murder, retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney must face his greatest adversary yet to solve a mystery that is quickly tearing his world apart

Tennis bad boy Ziko Slade is serving twenty years for the grisly murder of small-time criminal Lenny Lerman. The facts of the case—and Slade’s checkered past—seem indisputable. What begins as a cursory review of the case as a favor to Dave Gurney’s wife’s friend soon spirals into something much more complicated. When Gurney’s involvement threatens to expose a viper’s nest of corruption, he finds himself framed for murder and pursued by a sensational media, a ruthless district attorney, and a coldblooded killer.

As he evades the law and attempts to solve the case to salvage his reputation, Gurney grapples with the realization that his unshakable need for police work is costing him more than the brilliant detective ever suspected. The Viper is the most shocking and riveting chapter yet in the internationally bestselling Dave Gurney series.

On Harrow Hill

A Dave Gurney Novel

When an old colleague comes to him for help solving the mysterious death of his town's most prominent resident, retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney must use all of his analytical skills to hunt a murderer who just might be killing from beyond the grave

White River Burning

A Dave Gurney Novel: Book 6

"John Verdon writes grown–up detective novels, by which I mean stories with intelligent plots, well–developed characters and crimes that have social consequences. White River Burning, featuring the author's brainy gumshoe–for–hire, Dave Gurney, checks all these boxes." —The New York Times Book Review

Tensions have been running high in White River as it approaches the anniversary of a fatal shooting of a black motorist by a local police officer. The polarized city is on edge, confronted with angry demonstrations, arson, and looting. In the midst of the turmoil, a White River police officer is shot dead by an unknown sniper. As the town spirals out of control, local authorities approach Dave Gurney to conduct an independent investigation of the shooting. White River Burning is the most provocative and timely book yet by the author hailed by The New York Times as "masterly."

Wolf Lake

A Dave Gurney Novel: Book 5

Could a nightmare be used as a murder weapon? That's the provocative question confronting Gurney in the thrilling new installment in this series of international bestsellers. The former NYPD star homicide detective is called upon to solve a baffling puzzle: Four people who live in different parts of the country and who seem to have little in common, report having had the same dream—a terrifying nightmare involving a bloody dagger with a carved wolf's head on the handle. All four are subsequently found with their wrists cut — apparent suicides — and the weapon used in each case was a wolf's head dagger.

Police zero in quickly on Richard Hammond, a controversial psychologist who conducts hypnotherapy sessions at a spooky old Adirondack inn called Wolf Lake Lodge. It seems that each of the victims had gone there to meet with Hammond shortly before turning up dead.

Troubled by odd holes in the official approach to the case, Gurney begins his own investigation — an action that puts him in the crosshairs of not only an icy murderer and the local police but the darkest corner of the federal government. As ruthless as the blizzard trapping him in the sinister eeriness of Wolf Lake, Gurney's enemies set out to keep him from the truth at any cost — including an all–out assault on the sanity of his beloved wife Madeleine.

With his emotional resources strained to the breaking point, Gurney must throw himself into a deadly battle of wits with the most frightening opponent he has ever faced.

Wolf Lake is the page–turning new work by a writer hailed by the New York Times as "masterly" — and it furthers the adventures of Dave Gurney, a detective reviewers have compared to Sherlock Holmes.