Jack figures this is the life — living on the water, enjoying the sunshine, ogling the beach girls, playing whatever damn music he wants in his bar (Chicago blues, mostly) and–BONUS!–nobody shooting at him. But his reputation has preceded him — thanks to a series of best-selling detective novels written by an old pal, William Stevens, a Chicago Tribune police reporter, featuring the larger-than-life exploits of Detective Jack Stoney, which are loosely based upon Jack’s career. Turns out, however, that having such a famous and experienced homicide dick in their midst proves to be too much of a temptation for local law enforcement brass, and when the going gets tough, they occasionally call in Jack.
So much for retirement.
In fact, by the second book, The Dollar-a-Year Detective (2018, Jack’s agreed to consult for his buddy Cubby Cullen, the police chief of Fort Myers Beach for, yes, a dollar a year.
JACK STARKEY is an ex-homicide cop from Chicago who dumps the Windy City and the CPD to live the life aquatic on a houseboat called Phoenix and runs a bar called the Drunken Parrot in sleepy Fort Myers Beach, Florida, in a couple of easy-going books by William Wells.