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Ross H. Spencer

“The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny” (The New York Times).
 
 Chance Purdue may be better at a lot of things than he is at detecting, but he’s the only man for the job when the FBI comes looking for someone to take on the Soviet-inspired DADA (Destroy America, Destroy America) conspiracy.
 
 Plus, he needs a paycheck. Chance gets off to a rough start as he’s led on a merry chase through Chicago’s underbelly and drawn into a case of deception that can only be solved with the help of a mysterious femme fatale who’s as beautiful as she is cunning.

Diversion Books

The Chance Purdue Mysteries

The Dada Caper

In the fast and funny sequel to The Dada Caper, former Chicago PI Chance Purdue comes out from behind the bar to get back in the game.
 
 Try as he may, Chance Purdue can’t seem to escape the world of private investigation. The now tavern owner returns to action to protect Princess Sonia of Kaleski, who claims to be the wife of an old army buddy. Convinced he’ll get to the bottom of things at his army battalion’s reunion, Chance indulges in the entertainment while leaving the more serious detective work to his new colleague, the scintillating Brandy Alexander. For Chance, the case provides more fun than intrigue, and yet its solution is a surprise for everyone involved.
 
Praise for Ross H. Spencer’s The Dada Caper
 “Parodies of the private‐eye novel come and go. Here is The Dada Caper by Ross H. Spencer. It has every cliché down pat, including rat-tat-tat writing in which paragraphs are seldom more than one sentence. . . . The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny.” —The New York Times

The Reggis Arms Caper

From the author of The Dada Caper: Chicago private detective Chance Purdue learns that nothing good comes from working for the mob—except cold hard cash.
 
 A quick and easy buck sounds good to PI Chance Purdue. But the paycheck seems to be a bit harder to earn when the job entails more than just looking into a minor league baseball team in southern Illinois. His new client, the gangster Cool Lips Chericola, is definitely leaving out details. Enter Brandy Alexander, whose unexpected appearance in Stranger City, Illinois, complicates things. Then throw in the Bobby Crackers Blitzkrieg for Christ religious crusade, and you’ve got a super-charged powder keg of a caper, with Chance holding both the match and the barrel.
 
Praise for Ross H. Spencer’s The Dada Caper
 “Parodies of the private‐eye novel come and go. Here is The Dada Caper by Ross H. Spencer. It has every cliché down pat, including rat-tat-tat writing in which paragraphs are seldom more than one sentence. . . . The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny.” —The New York Times

The Stranger City Caper

All bets are off when Chicago detective Chance Purdue protects a gambler with a target on his head in this PI parody from the author of The Dada Caper.
 
 “Bet-a-Bunch” Dugan is being hunted by International DADA (Destroy America, Destroy America) conspirators, a terrorist organization out for control of the world’s oil market. Dugan needs more than a little luck to walk away unscathed. He needs a Chance, and though he knows that half of Purdue’s reputation is that of a guy you are aching to punch, the other half is that he’s a dogged, if occasionally doomed, investigator.
 
 No matter where Purdue’s leads take him, though, he always seems to be one step behind DADA. As the hapless Chance watches DADA’s deadly scheme move forward, a siren named Brandy Alexander enters the picture and things finally fall into place, or so Chance hopes . . .
 
Praise for Ross H. Spencer’s The Dada Caper
 “Parodies of the private‐eye novel come and go. Here is The Dada Caper by Ross H. Spencer. It has every cliché down pat, including rat-tat-tat writing in which paragraphs are seldom more than one sentence. . . . The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny.” —The New York Times

The Abu Wahab Caper

From the author of The Dada Caper: Even an anti-American conspiracy can’t keep Chicago PI Chance Purdue from falling prey to his personal femme fatale.
 
 Private Investigator Chance Purdue and Brandy Alexander work in tandem on a case that finds them traveling to the Illinois town of Radish River. The CIA continues to need help putting a stop to the DADA (Destroy America, Destroy America) Conspiracy, a terrorist organization whose latest plot is completely under wraps, except that it promises immense destruction. Things prove difficult for Chance and Brandy as they do what they can to remain focused on the task at hand. But it’s hard when distractions from football-playing gorillas, chariot races, copious booze—and especially each other—weave in and out of their lives and keep this case on the back burner.
 
Praise for Ross H. Spencer’s The Dada Caper
 “Parodies of the private‐eye novel come and go. Here is The Dada Caper by Ross H. Spencer. It has every cliché down pat, including rat-tat-tat writing in which paragraphs are seldom more than one sentence. . . . The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny.” —The New York Times

The Chance Purdue Mysteries - The book series

The Chance Purdue Mysteries - The book series

The Chance Purdue Mysteries books in order

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