Detective Lessons

When a wealthy real estate developer convinces Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Schmidt to search for his missing son, Schmitty senses trouble. It’s not the fact that it’s a prohibited side job, it’s the fact that he has to team up with Megan McCann, an attractive private investigator with her own set of rules.

Finding a body in the trunk of a BMW sends Schmitty and Megan on an adrenalized trail through Southern California unraveling a sophisticated real estate scam. A run-in with the LAPD and some hardcore gang members opens new perspectives on the case, and they begin to glimpse a shocking web of greed and corruption.

The situation suddenly becomes more complex - and personal – when the billionaire takes matters into his own hands and Schmitty’s own department gets involved. When Schmitty and Megan go to Catalina Island to track down the one man who may know everything, they uncover a secret that could make or break the billionaire. And when Schmitty miscalculates the man, it could get them killed. Before all this, Schmitty had been unfairly outcast in his department. Now he’s here to protect and serve. To make justice prevail and figure out who to bring down.

Praise for Detective Lessons:

“Detective Lessons is worth the read if you are on the hunt for a good action packed, mystery!” —Just Worded Lines

Larkin does a great job of expressing to the reader the energy and personality of each character..... very well written and detail oriented story......intricate twists and turns. Four stars. –Red City Review

It is a book that has plenty of twists and turns and just when things seem straightforward and about to be solved the case ends up taking a whole new direction” –The Crime Scene

“In the end, it's not just about the mystery, how it's solved, or how people come together or break apart in the course of an investigation. It's about how law enforcement struggles with internal and external forces beyond the facts of an investigation to arrive at solutions, it's about how individuals grow and change in the course of police work, and it's about how the bad guys handle revenge, deceit, and complex games just as likely to weave webs of entrapment around themselves as around their victims.” —Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review

The story is entertaining and the protagonists are likeable. The book could keep you entertained on a cross country flight. This one could be the start of a series of novels about these characters – I hope so. -Men Reading Books

“Larkin reminds me of Connelly, Bishop, Dallas Barnes and the original Wambaugh books. Can't stop reading his books.” – Amazon Reviewer

“Larkin tells a fast-paced, taut tale…….At times this book feels almost Shakespearean; certainly it does at the end……. Characters have what Hamlet called flaws of the complexion, and some have hearts as black as King Claudius. There is even a sort of play-within-a-play, in which some characters are pretending to be and want something other than what they are and demand.” –Vox Libris Blog