Leo's boyhood hero, Henry "Heck" Sundstrom was larger than life. Lately, however Heck's life has been spiraling out of control. First the honeymoon boating accident that killed Heck's son and new daughter-in-law, Allison. And now the big man himself was dying--struck down by delivery truck in a seedy section of Seattle. As he starts to investigate, Leo begins to wonder if Allison went down with the ship. And whether, with the aid of his, aging legmen, "the Boys," he can prove they're on the trail of a "black widow" who may be less "late" and more lethal than anyone ever suspected.From Publishers WeeklyConfirming the bright promise of Who in Hell Is Wanda Fuca?, Ford proves he's no one-book author with the second case for extremely likable, wisecracking Seattle PI Leo Waterman. A boating mentor from Waterman's youth, Heck Sundstrom, is critically injured in a traffic accident. What was he doing on a seedy downtown block after midnight? The accident follows the death of the Sundstrom's son and his new daughter-in-law, Allison, in a boat explosion. Waterman soon finds loose ends: Allison may not have been what she claimed. For help, Waterman calls on "the Boys," usually drunk old friends who know their way around Seattle's seamier precincts. Carl Craddock, a wheelchair-using surveillance expert with a foul mouth and caustic sense of humor, pitches in. Allison's trail of trouble leads the men across Washington State to Wisconsin and beyond. A helpless old lady, a small-town police chief and the minister of a Seattle megachurch were all involved with the enigmatic woman. But if Allison is alive and murdering, who went down with the Sundstrom boat? Ford keeps the menace growing, while his large cast of colorful characters supplies laughs in some of the best dialogue around. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library JournalYA. Written like a classic 1930's hard-boiled detective novel, Cast in Stone starts with a bang and keeps going from there. After 23 years, Marge, the love of detective Leo Waterman's life, needs his help. Her husband, Heck, an ex-friend of Leo's, is dying in a Seattle hospital after a hit-and-run accident. It is with great reluctance that Leo even considers getting involved as Marge rejected him and married his best friend, thus ruining that friendship and his life. Marge also wants Leo to help her uncover the mysterious circumstances of the death of her son and his fiancee in a boating accident. Heck was convinced that the "accident" was no accident and had set out to do his own investigation. Calling in some markers owed from old friends, Leo unravels the case piece by piece. In the course of his investigation, he finds decades-old murders and "suicides," and uncovers a small town's guilty secrets. Ford does an excellent job of tying together all of the various threads of this case. YAs will get a kick out of Leo Waterman and his sidekicks.?Susan B. McFaden, Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Seattle p.i. Leo Waterman isn't looking for trouble when he and his forensic pathologist girlfriend Rebecca escape into the Washington wilder for a few days of relaxation -- it just seems to find him. An old friend has purchased some choice property here in North America's only rain forest and his posting of "No Trespassing" signs has incurred the wrath of every sportsman for miles around. But what starts as irksome harassment by the offended locals soon escalates into the real of the lethal. And it's just Waterman's luck to be in the epicenter of this murderous mess at the very moment it bursts into flames.

When an old gangster friend of Leo's father makes a request he "can't refuse," Leo and his band of drunks, delve into the world of environmental politics in search of Caroline Nobel, a spoiled brat, without the sense God gave a gopher. With the help of "the Boys" -- a group of aging winos who are his modern day "Baker Street Irregulars" -- Leo fights Native American tribal politics, industrial pollution, and psychotic grannies to fulfill his obligation to a friend.Amazon.com ReviewJust out in paperback, Ford's jaunty first mystery introduces a Seattle sleuth called Leo Waterman -- the rebellious scion of a powerful family who carries the spirit of the '60s around with him like dirty laundry. When an old mobster friend of his father hires him to look for his missing granddaughter, Leo recruits a clutch of homeless people to help in the search. The same lively writing and exciting plotting also add zest to Ford's second Waterman story, Cast in Stone. From Publishers WeeklyDebut entry in the Leo Waterman series, starring a Seattle-based private eye with an off-beat sense of humor. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Anticipating problems, a prestigious global restaurant convention hires Leo as Special Security Officer. His assignment: monitor the movements of two adversarial steakhouse competitors whose "beef" has previously made for some nasty confrontations and a food critic who's caught in between the warring factions. Leo sends the Boys off to shadow all three parties and report back to him. But even the simplest of plans can cascade into catastrophe. And Leo soon finds himself served up as the prime suspect in a murder...realizing that both his life and career are at stake.From Publishers WeeklyIn his fourth outing, Seattle PI Leo Waterman (The Bum's Rush, 1997) is hired to save Bunky, a $360,000 prize Angus steer facing death and barbecue by a desperate steak house owner. Jack Del Fuego hopes to generate publicity for his bankrupt eateries by serving Bunky at his Seattle grand opening. Sir Geoffrey Miles, an overfed authority on food, hires Leo to head off Del Fuego's plan, which threatens to spoil an international gourmet society meeting in Seattle. When Mason Reese (no, not that Mason Reese), a tawdry food critic whose approval Del Fuego needs, is found murdered, the cops think Leo did it, so he must catch the real killer to clear himself. Atop his suspect list are a rival steak restaurateur, Del Fuego's avaricious ex-wife and suites full of greedy hangers-on. For assistance, Leo once again recruits "The Boys," the cadre of aging drunks who stand?or slouch?at the ready to help him with his offbeat cases. Ford pushes credibility by deploying The Boys to snoop around Seattle's finest hotel, but, placed next to the snooty, vengeful rich on the premises, Leo's boozy geezers seem downright genteel. A thoroughly wacky climax in the center of the city involving helicopters, a bull on a pallet, a mammoth barbecue pit and thermodynamics seems just right for Ford's latest, a hugely entertaining, over-the-top caper. Author tour. (Mar.) FYI: In simultaneous publication, Avon will issue the paperback edition of Bum's Rush. Ford's previous Leo Waterman novels were published in hardcover by Walker.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalHired as a security liaison for an international food conference by an eminent food critic, Seattle's Leo Waterman, private investigator, steps into the middle of a food feud between two rival American steak-house chains. Leo taps family connections in city government for information, dolls up some of his usual group of homeless alcoholics to infiltrate a fancy hotel, and even breaks a thumb or two but fails to prevent the murder of his pontificating client. Ford (Cast in Stone, LJ 4/1/96) conveys the larger-than-life suspects, rag-tag operatives, and exaggerated situations with delightful finesse. For most collections.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

When a homeless woman says she's the mother of a deceased rock idol, sometimes private eye Leo Waterman takes it upon himself to investigate the lady's claim. With the help of "the boys", a band of dissolute deputies, Leo begins a life-threatening pursuit of the truth nobody wants to hear.Amazon.com ReviewSeattle's own Leo Waterman is back--along with the very motley crew of once and future alcoholics like Nearly Normal Norman who help him with his investigations. While looking for a missing member of the group, Leo and Co. stop a rape and get involved in the overdose death of a famous Seattle musician who might remind you of recent headlines. As in his two previous books in the Waterman series, Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca? and Cast in Stone, both available in softcover, G. M. Ford writes pungent, hilarious dialogue and manages to make us care about the lives of people we walk past on the street every day. From BooklistNow in its third installment, Ford's Leo Waterman novels have leapfrogged the competition among Seattle detective series. This time out, Leo has plenty on his plate: one of the "boys," the homeless cronies he often uses for legwork, has gone missing; he's hired to find a librarian who has scammed the city's automated acquisitions system out of 200 grand; and he's on the trail of a record producer who may have arranged the overdose of a grunge rock star. The various plots and their joint resolution come together seamlessly--aided by some nifty online sleuthing--but what really makes this series shine is the ensemble interplay between Leo and his crew of homeless assistants. Like the "rude mechanicals" in one of Shakespeare's dark comedies, Waterman's supporting cast not only adds humor to the proceedings but also offers ironic commentary on the lead characters and their mainstream world, undercutting pretentiousness while displaying their own character flaws with a believable mixture of panache and melancholy. A fine series that keeps getting better. Bill Ott

Sometimes it’s the things you don’t do that come back to haunt you, just as surely as some questions are best left unanswered. When “Leo” is the last word a stranger speaks, the Seattle private eye launches himself into a search for answers. Not only does the dead man have a connection to Leo’s past, but he was also worth millions—and some very dangerous people know it. Before long, Leo is caught between warring factions in a high-stakes game of mayhem and murder, and his search for answers becomes a quest for justice. Turns out, finding the truth is far more painful than Leo ever imagined, and the price for uncovering it just might be his life.**About the AuthorG.M. Ford is the author of seven other novels in the Leo Waterman series—Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca?, Cast in Stone, The Bum’s Rush, Slow Burn, Last Ditch, The Deader the Better, and Thicker than Water. He has also penned the Frank Corso mystery series and the stand-alone thriller Nameless Night. He has been nominated for the Shamus, Anthony, and Lefty awards, among others. He lives and writes in Seattle, Washington.

He wowed critics with his Frank Corso and Leo Waterman series, catapulting to the upper ranks of contemporary crime writers with each riveting new thriller. Now, G.M. Ford is back with a brand-new book, his first stand-alone novel, featuring a man with no name, no past—and at the center of a conspiracy so pervasive he's forced to run from the only home he's ever known—straight into the abyss—in his search for truth... .Discovered lying near death in a railroad car, his body broken, his mind destroyed, Paul Hardy has spent the past seven years living in a group home for disabled adults, his identity and his past lost—seemingly forever. Then, after a horrific car accident, he awakens a new man, his face reconstructed, and his mind shadowy with memory. With only a name and a vaguely remembered scene to guide him, he goes on a cross-country quest to find out who he really is. But his search for the truth makes a lot of people uncomfortable—from the DA's office to the highest...