On this page

This page lists novels and short story collections by Terence Faherty.

The cover images shown are of, where possible, the first US edition and a recent paperback or digital edition.

Deadstick

Terence Faherty

1991

An Owen Keane novel.

"Owen Keane, failed seminarian, once hoped to find cosmic answers in human mysteries, but he's traded that quest for a nine-to-five job at a New York law firm and a quiet life. Quiet, that is, until a cryptic request for information on an accident that took the lives of a playboy aviator and his fiancée cracks the solid earth beneath Keane's feet and pitches him once again into darkness and doubt."

Live to Regret

Terence Faherty

1992

An Owen Keane novel.

"Owen Keane, former seminarian turned metaphysical detective, is in over his head at the Jersey shore. Hired to help a grieving widower who refuses to rejoin the world, Keane finds himself in a resort town haunted by the long-ago death of a real lady in the lake. Somewhere in the town's dark past, Keane must discover the clues he needs to solve the mystery of a broken life."

The Lost Keats

Terence Faherty

1993

An Owen Keane novel.

"Owen Keane, a seminarian in the wilds of southern Indiana, is at risk of failure. When an insightful priest offers him a chance at redemption by asking him to find a runaway classmate, mystery addict Keane turns the assignment into a search for a fabulous missing sonnet, an investigation into illicit drug trade, and a harrowing confrontation with his darkest fears."

Die Dreaming

Terence Faherty

1994

An Owen Keane novel.

"At his ten-year high school reunion, Owen learns that the group of friends he'd most admired all share a dark secret. But not until the next reunion, ten years later, does he uncover the sad and ugly truth about his friends, who succumbed to the temptations and expectations of their Vietnam-era age, and have been paying the price ever since."

Prove the Nameless

Terence Faherty

1996

An Owen Keane novel.

"While working for an Atlantic City newspaper, Owen Keane is asked to investigate a twenty-year-old multiple homicide that claimed all but one member of a prominent local family. Keane's client is the sole survivor, a baby at the time of the killings and now a lost member of Generation X, as haunted by her unexplained escape as she is by the faceless threat that still hangs over her. Keane journeys into the past, uncovering a complex and dangerous trail of altered identities and secret guilt. His search leads Keane to a dual confrontation, as he must face both the murderer and his own long-held fears."

Kill Me Again

Terence Faherty

1996

A Scott Elliott novel.

"How do you top your best work? In Hollywood, you make a sequel. That's the plan in 1947 when filming begins on Love Me Again, a follow-up to the beloved wartime romance Passage to Lisbon. But the plan is threatened when the screenwriter is accused of being a Communist. Enter Scott Elliott, a former actor and soldier who is struggling to find a place in a changing Hollywood. To save the movie, Elliott must untangle a tale of murder, secret sin and redemption."

The Ordained

Terence Faherty

1997

An Owen Keane novel.

"In 1844, a religious sect founded a small town and held its breath for the Second Coming, when the faithful would be carried to heaven. One hundred and fifty years later, they're still waiting. Then three people disappear--and some think the prophecy is finally coming true. Ex-seminarian turned sleuth Owen Keane thinks there's a more corporeal explanation, something to do with a convicted killer's parole hearing--because there's nothing very divine about a cold body in a shallow grave."

Come Back Dead

Terence Faherty

1997

A Scott Elliott novel.

"Carson Drury’s first movie was a smash hit that raised his reputation from that of boy genius to greatest director of all time. His second film, The Imperial Albertsons, was even more ambitious, but aggressive editing from the suits at RKO Pictures ruined the movie, and Drury’s career with it. Now RKO is dead—killed by the upstart medium known as television—and Drury wants to buy his movie and reedit it, his way. It’s up to Scott Elliott to make sure Drury lives to see the final cut. A detective working for the ultra-exclusive Hollywood Security Agency, Elliott spends his days and nights helping the stars keep their private lives private. There is someone out there who will kill to keep the new version of The Imperial Albertsons from ever seeing the light of day, and Elliott will turn Hollywood upside down to find him."

Orion Rising

Terence Faherty

1999

An Owen Keane novel.

"Ex-seminarian Owen Keane, pursuer of life's mysteries, returns to Boston College, his alma mater, and to the scene of an old crime...and a new one. His longtime friend, James Courtney Murray, has been murdered, and DNA evidence has linked Murray to a twenty-five-year-old unsolved rape. Driven by his own knowledge of what happened that night in 1969, Owen seeks to clear his friend's name, while forcing himself to revisit the past that haunts him still."

Raise the Devil

Terence Faherty

2000

A Scott Elliott novel.

"In the penthouse of a Las Vegas casino, a gang of mobsters play poker, betting sums that would make even the most seasoned gamblers blush. In the bedroom lies Beverly Brooks, one of Tinseltown’s most beautiful leading ladies. She has been kidnapped for the amusement of the don. Scott Elliott, Hollywood sleuth, has come to save her. Dressed as a bellhop, he slips her out through the service elevator and they make their getaway down the Vegas strip. He has saved her life—for now. While shooting a cut-rate rip-off of Cleopatra, Brooks and her producer are killed in a plane crash that may lead back to the Mob. Elliott was supposed to be protecting her, and he let her down. To ease his conscience, Los Angeles’ toughest private detective will have to give in to his hunger for revenge."

The Confessions of Owen Keane

Terence Faherty

2004

Owen Keane short stories.

"six short stories and a novella from the casebook of failed seminarian turned investigator Owen Keane. Called a "metaphysical detective" by the New York Times and "the ultimate amateur sleuth" by the Drood Review, Keane is a compulsive solver of mysteries. These mysteries can be as public as gang murder and gun running or as private as the loss of faith. But whether the stakes involved are large or small, these tales all feature the hallmarks of Faherty's novels: meticulous plotting, offbeat twists, and what the Philadelphia Inquirer called 'a prose style that's a pleasure to spend time with'."

In a Teapot

Terence Faherty

2005

A Scott Elliott novel.

"A film version of The Tempest, William Shakespeare's final play, featuring the cream of Hollywood's aristocratic British Colony? When the project is announced in 1948, it sounds like an idea that can't miss. But then the whispers start about one of those British actors and a burlesque queen, and murder follows shortly. Enter Scott Elliott, top operative of Hollywood Security and the soon-to-be husband of the lovely Ella Englehart. To get to the altar, Elliott must dodge blonde bombshells and gangsters, and solve a mystery that echoes Shakespeare's crowning work."

Dance in the Dark

Terence Faherty

2011

A Scott Elliott novel.

"It's 1969. The Summer of Love is a fading memory, but the Vietnam War rages on. Scott Elliott, veteran operative of Hollywood Security, agrees to find the runaway daughter of a has-been star. Her trail skirts the new and burgeoning business of hard-core pornography and ends at an outdoor rock concert under the control of a savage gang, where Elliott is as at-home as Sam Spade at Woodstock. Still, he'll take any distraction from his own troubles. His son Billy is missing in action and his marriage to the lovely Ella is cracking under the strain."

The Hollywood Op

Terence Faherty

2011

Eight Scott Elliott short stories.

"Here are noirish tales of Hollywood as the golden age wanes. Chasing stray actresses, hot jewelry, and a gun that may have started a war, actor-turned sleuth Elliott demonstrates once again Faherty's sharp eye and keen ear for characters living on broken dreams."

Eastward in Eden

Terence Faherty

2013

An Owen Keane novel.

"Two years after witnessing a devastating suicide, Owen Keane, metaphysical detective, travels to rural Kenya, hoping to lose himself where no one will think to look for him. Instead, he finds another mystery: the murder of charismatic stranger who claimed to be the reincarnation of a long dead warrior hero. To solve the mystery of his own future, Keane must pay for a life with a life."

The Quiet Woman

Terence Faherty

2014

"American romance novelist Danielle Furey dreamed of returning to Ireland — but not like this. Not in the company of her ne'er-do-well brother. Certainly not with her ex-husband in tow. Not even with the charming Irish barman Danny hired as their driver, not after she learned of the vengeful bookmaker on his trail. A woman of nice resources, Danny has the situation well in hand, until her party meets an Irish tour guide who claims to know the details of a terrible crime committed during the filming of The Quiet Man in 1951. Then Danny finds herself cast in the role of investigator, an investigator with an unusual client: the murder victim herself."

Tales of the Star Republic

Terence Faherty

2016

"Twelve intriguing mysteries by Edgar nominee and Shamus winner Terence Faherty featuring a reporter who specializes in the paranormal and the unexplained and the people who see things in the shadows or live in the shadows themselves."

Files of the Star Republic

Terence Faherty

2017

"Thirteen intriguing mysteries by Edgar nominee and Shamus winner Terence Faherty featuring a reporter who investigates UFO sightings, precognition, poltergeists, and other strange phenomenon for a Midwestern newspaper, the Star Republic."