William Manchee
William Manchee makes a living as a consumer lawyer practicing in Dallas, Texas with his son Jim. Originally from Southern California, he lives now in Plano, Texas. Writing is his passion, and his novels are in the genres of mystery, science fiction, and suspense. His works to date include the Stan Turner Mystery series (13 volumes), the Rich Coleman novels (3 volumes), the Tarizon Saga (5 volumes) and stand-alone novels, Uncommon Thief and the Prime Minister's Daughter. He's also written a non-fiction work for small business owners, You Can Save Your Small Business.
William Manchee’s books are available at most online bookstores, in hardback, trade paper, eBook, and audiobooks at Audible.com.
William Manchee makes a living as a consumer lawyer practicing in Dallas, Texas with his son Jim. Originally from Southern California, he lives now in Plano, Texas. Writing is his passion, and his novels are in the genres of mystery, science fiction, and suspense. His works to date include the Stan Turner Mystery series (13 volumes), the Rich Coleman novels (3 volumes), the Tarizon Saga (5 volumes) and stand-alone novels, Uncommon Thief and the Prime Minister's Daughter. He's also written a non-fiction work for small business owners, You Can Save Your Small Business. William Manchee’s books are available at most online bookstores, in hardback, trade paper, eBook, and audiobooks at Audible.com.
Photo taken in 1980 shortly after starting his law practice in Dallas, Texas which was his inspiration for the Stan Turner Mysteries and Rich Coleman Novels.
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The attorneys of Turner & Waters are back at it again. In over their heads, each must win their respective cases or face dire consequences. It's 1999 and the world is awaiting the predicted Year 2000 calamity when millions of computers were expected to crash simultaneously due to short-sighted programmers. Although governments all over the world have spent billions trying to avoid this disaster, everyone is holding their breath on New Years' Eve, 1999.
Stan's son, Reggie Turner, has joined the firm and has his heart set on practicing personal injury law, but Stan is against it having had bad luck with PI cases in the Past. When Reggie bags his first PI case he must solicit Paula and Jodie's help in untangling the legal quagmire that is unleashed when Tom "the Tornado" Tyson sues his new client and the District Attorney presses criminal charges against her.
In the meantime, Stan's new estate planning client talks Stan into agreeing to be the executor and trustee in the event of his death, not expecting the client to die just days later. When Stan assumes his duties, his world is shattered, and he is faced with bitter choices.
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Melody Monroe, a delightful teenager with ambitions to be a
gymnast, loses her parents in a tragic auto accident. She is devastated and
falls into a deep depression. Without any relatives to take her in, she ends up
with Child Protective Services. Due to what CPS considers to be her bad
attitude, they have difficulty placing her with a permanent foster family until
Frank and Marjorie Monroe come along. They are a middle-aged couple who want a
child but don’t want the hassle of raising one who is very young, so Melody is
a perfect fit. Unfortunately, Melody soon finds out Frank is an alcoholic and
often beats Marjorie up. And, it also becomes apparent that her new parents
each have their own agendas, so she often finds herself caught in the middle of
their bickering. Frank, too, has an un-fatherly interest in Melody which is
rather unsettling. Before long, Melody learns that Frank and his sister Natalie
are beneficiaries of the Monroe Trust which owns a ranch worth millions of
dollars. The two hate each other, and as the date draws near for the final
release of the trust restriction on selling the ranch, Frank is found dead
behind the wheel of his Ford Ranger. When Melody is charged with his murder she
begs Stan to defend her.
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A triple homicide is caught on tape by a professional photographer yet the person or persons responsible and the motive for this grisly crime are a mystery. This is the kind of high-profile murder case that attorney Paula Waters loves but as she tries to unravel the twisted facts a critical witness is murdered and two others disappear. When the trial finally begins and she thinks she has everything figured out, Stan informs her that she has it all wrong! Paula isn’t happy with Stan’s revelations, particularly since he has been of little help to her during the trial. In the past, he has been right there with her from the beginning to the end, but this time he has been busy helping their new associate Jodie Marshall with her civil defense of an ex-Army MP who thwarted a thief in a jewelry store heist but managed to shoot the store owner in the process. Stan has his own troublesome bankruptcy case too. A Pakistani immigrant has been defrauded of his life savings of $250,000 by a thug preying on fellow countrymen wanting to immigrate to the U.S. Stan puts his client into a chapter 11 reorganization but the thug has little respect for U.S. laws or its judicial system causing Stan’s plan to go awry. Stan’s unexplained absences from the office further exacerbate his shaky relations with Paula, particularly when she discovers he’s apparently having liaisons with a hooker!
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The law firm of Turner & Waters has a new associate. Jodie Waters has finally worked her way up from Stan's secretary to become a full-fledged attorney. Having great confidence in her abilities, Stan asks her to help him in the investigation of a wrongful death case. A worker in a local sweatshop has died and his family wants the owner, Icaro Melendez to pay for the crime. The problem is the Dallas Police and the FBI have closed out the case for lack of evidence. It seems like a hopeless case, but Stan reluctantly agrees to have Jodie look into it. Jodie, excited to have her first case, boldly launches into an investigation and soon finds herself working undercover as the girlfriend of one of Icaro Melendez' sons.
While Jodie and Stan are busy with the Melendez case Paula Waters takes on the defense of a young mother accused of stabbing her husband to death with an ice pick. Paula is ecstatic to get such a high profile case until she finds out her client is broke and this isn't the first time one of Maureen Thompson's husband has been bludgeoned to death with an ice pick. She learns that her client dubbed "the Ice Pick Widow" by the media survived her first murder trial due to a hung jury but wonders if she'll be so lucky this time around.
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Dallas attorney Stan Turner struggles to keep his practice going in the wake of the tragic loss of his son and his rapidly disintegrating marriage. Stan, who has been recruited by the CIA for its ultra top secret Tarizon Repopulation project, gets his first assignment to defend a woman accused of murdering her children and alien husband. The alien husband, however, is not from Mexico but Tarizon, a planet in another solar system. Stan must not only prove his client innocent but also make sure nobody finds out that the government is allowing aliens to live and propagate on Earth.
While Stan is busy with his CIA project, Paula is asked to defend the accused in the arson-murder of a prominent scientist and his family. While a bitter feud between neighbors over a barking dog and a chain link fence appears to be the motive for the crime, Paula discovers several others who have benefited from Chester Brown's death.
In the midst of the two murder cases, Stan is lured into a dangerous relationship with an alien woman assigned to him as a legal assistant. He soon learns that the women of Tarizon are even more mysterious and dangerous than those on Earth.
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Cactus Island is book seven of the Stan Turner Mystery series featuring legal sleuths Stan Turner and Paula Waters. It marks a turning point in the series as Stan's involvement with the CIA intensifies as he is enlisted to help them keep a dark and ghastly secret that, if revealed, could cause widespread panic and outrage. To further complicate matters, Stan suffers a tragic personal loss in this episode that will have a dramatic impact on future books in the series. Finally, a new series will be spun off from the final chapter of the novel---but that's all we can tell you for now.
Stan is called out to Possum Kingdom Lake in Central Texas where a boy scout has been killed in a tragic Jeep accident. At first glance it appears to be just a typical case of a reckless teenager driving too fast, but the teenager, Steven Caldwell, insists the accident wasn't his fault. He claims he was distracted by an alien spacecraft flying overhead. At first Stan thinks his client's story is ridiculous, but as his investigation progresses he discovers his client may be telling the truth.
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It is the infamous Black Monday, October 1, 1987. As the stock market is taking a nosedive and banks are falling left and right, Stan is asked by the CIA to help an operative unravel an IRS garnishment and ends up in a fire-fight between the CIA and the FBI.
Stan teams up with Detective Bingo Besch of the Dallas Police Department to search for clues as to Lottie's murderer and the whereabouts of the famous art collection. While interviewing legitimate art dealers in Dallas, Stan finds an entry into the art underworld where he learns two pieces in the collections have already been sold. But the dealers involved claim most of the collection remains in tact and is hidden somewhere in North Texas. As Stan continues to search for the Ludinburg collection, so does Lottie's murderer and it's only a matter of time until their paths cross.
While Stan is chasing down Lottie West's killer and looking for the Ludinburg Collection, he and his partner Paula Waters are also in the midst of the defending Jimmy Bennett accused of the murder of his father-in-law, the Chairman of Metroplex Savings and Loan. To further complicate matters Stan is drawn into a turf fight between the FBI and CIA involving the Iran-Contra Scandal and digs up information that could get him killed.
Stan finds himself as the executor of an old client's estate and discovers she's been murdered. He teams up with Detective Bingo Besch of the Dallas Police Department to search for clues as to Lottie's murderer and the whereabouts of the famous art collection. While interviewing legitimate art dealers in Dallas, Stan finds an entry into the art underworld where he learns two pieces in the collections have already been sold. But the dealers involved claim most of the collection remains in tact and is hidden somewhere in North Texas. As Stan continues to search for the Ludinburg collection, so does Lottie's murderer and it's only a matter of time until their paths cross.
While Stan is chasing down Lottie West's killer and looking for the Ludinburg Collection, he and his partner Paula Waters are also in the midst of the defending Jimmy Bennett accused of the murder of his father-in-law, the Chairman of Metroplex Savings and Loan. To further complicate matters Stan is drawn into a turf fight between the FBI and CIA involving the Iran-Contra Scandal and digs up information that could get him killed.
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Trade Paperback, ISBN 978-1-932475-02-9, $13.00
Audio MP3, ISBN 978-1-935722-61-8, $18.00
After two tough years practicing law, Stan and his family take a well deserved vacation to Colorado. Unfortunately the vacation is cut short when a client is found standing over the body of a dead IRS agent. It appears to be an open and shut case since Dusty Thomas has had a long feud with the dead agent Bobby Tuttle, and more than enough motive to kill him, yet he claims to be innocent.
Stan's new partner Paula Waters convinces Stan to finish his vacation promising to handle Dusty Thomas' arraignment and get an investigation underway. While Stan is away, she makes good on her promise and even manages to arrange financing for Dusty's defense. But Stan is mortified when he reads in the Colorado papers that a radical paramilitary group, the Citizens Defense Alliance or CDA, is doing the funding.
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Ca$h Call (Stan Turner Mystery #5)
Trade Paperback, ISBN 0-966366-8-6, 328 pages
Audio MP3 CD, ISBN 978-1-929976-86-0
Stan and Rebekah's good friends, Don and Pam Blaylock, are in deep trouble. An imprudent investment in a Golden Dragon franchise and their son's arrest for DWI trigger an avalanche of misfortune culminating with the murder of Luther Bell, the smooth-talking restaurant promoter responsible for their impending demise. While Stan conducts a preemptive investigation to prove his clients are innocent, he is inundated with lawsuits and claims from their growing list of creditors and must deal with the inevitable marital strife that threatens this once proud family. Then one of Stan's old flames resurfaces and makes a play for Stan's affections. A wrongful death suit worth millions, ancient Peruvian pottery filled with diamonds, and a confrontation with the Mob round out this nail-biting legal thriller.
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Second Chair (Stan Turner Mystery #4)
Trade Paperback, ISBN 0-9666366-9-4, $14.95
Audio CD - ISBN 978-1935722-53-3
Audio MP3 -978-1-935722-52-6
It's 1981 in Dallas and Stan decides to throw a Christmas party as a way of saying thanks to the clients who have sustained him during his first tumultuous year in the practice of law. As Stan's luck would have it, a ice storm hits Dallas and a client slips on Stan’s icy walkway causing him to suffer a massive coronary. Stan is blamed for his client’s untimely death and must shield himself from the wrath of the grieving widow.
In the meantime, Stan is asked to defend a young college student charged with murdering her newborn child. Knowing he lacks the experience for such an undertaking, he enlists his former criminal law professor to be "Second Chair." What he doesn't know is the professor, who everyone calls "Snake" is a drunk and a womanizer.
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Brash Endeavor (Stan Turner Mystery #3)
Trade Paperback, ISBN 1-884570-89-5, JUly 1998
Audio MPC, ISBN 978-1929976-64-9
Audio CD ROM, ISBN 978-1929976-63-2
Audio MP3, ISBN 978-1-929976-64-9
Step into the shoes of Dallas attorney, Stan Turner, in the late 1970's as he begins the practice of law. Then hang on for the ride of your life as Stan immediately steps into a rattlesnake's nest and has to do some fancy two-steppin' to avoid a lethal strike from his own clients. When Stan's wife, Rebekah, is arrested for murder and a client turns out to be a ghost, Stan turns in his legal pad for a detective's notebook and goes to work to solve these most perplexing mysteries.
Teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Stan pushes on relentlessly to extricate himself and his family from certain doom. Sex, greed and a lust for power drive this most extraordinary novel to a stunning conclusion.
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Disillusioned (Stan Turner Mystery #2)
Trade Paperback, ISBN 978-1-929976-66-9
Audio MP3, ISBN 978-1-935722-64-9
After being discharged from the United States Marine Corps, Stan ends up in Dallas where he intends to finish law school. He's broke and with three young children he and Rebekah must work, she as a nurse and he selling life insurance, to make ends meet. It's an election year and Stan is recruited into become Republican County Chairman with the promise that he will have very little to do as the staff handles everything. He's excited with the title and the prospect of helping President Gerald Ford in his campaign against Jimmy Carter.
The campaign is marred, however by an untimely FBI investigation into the financial dealings of a major party contributor, Brad Thornton. The investigation unleashes an avalanche of misfortune beginning with the alleged murder-suicide of Stan’s friend, Rob Shepard, his wife Cindy and their three children and culminating in the resignation of two republican candidates for the 67th District’s state representative seat.
Stan, who can't believe his best friend could have murdered his family, with the help of a law schoo professor and a pretty school mate, Paula Waters, launches his own personal investigation to clear Rob’s name. When the investigation turns up new evidence that threatens members of a powerful Mexican drug cartel, Stan is kidnapped and taken to a secluded place called "the dump" where he is to be murdered and his body burned to prevent identification.
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UNDAUNTED (Stan Turner Mystery #1)
Undaunted is the coming of age story of Stan Turner and how he came to be a criminal defense attorney. When he was very young in the 50's growing up in Southern California he always loved to go to the county fair. One year the main attraction was a Univac Computer programmed to tell fortunes. Stan had his fortune told and it was a very ominous one forewarning him of a very perilous and difficult life.
His fortune turns out to be a premonition as he almost immediately finds himself in deep trouble. He and his friend Steve are nearly killed by a train that catches up them midway across a railroad bridge over the Ventura River. They manage to escape injury, but their bikes are destroyed. Rather than confess the truth to their parents, they lie and claim their bikes were stolen. Later, when two hobos are charged with the theft and put on trial, Stan is torn by his own self interest in keeping quiet and guilt over the two innocent men being wrongfully punished. The hobo's are found guilty but Stan can't stand the guilt and confesses. Fortunately he is young and his deceit is forgiven.
This experience reveals to Stan a strong moral conscious that he never realized he possessed and sparks an interest in the law. Soon he decides he wants to go to law school and become an attorney. In the late sixties while an undergrad at UCLA, Stan meets and falls in love with a beautiful brunette, Rebekah. They are married during their junior year and finish out college together. Misfortune strikes again, however, when Stan is drafted into the Marine Corps after his first year of law school and the first person he inadvertently befriends at boot camp turns out to be serial killer.
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William Manchee is an attorney by trade and practices law in Dallas with his son Jim. Originally from southern California, he lives now in Plano, Texas with his wife Janet. He is the author of the ten volume Stan Turner Mystery series inspired by many actual cases from his past. His other works include the Rich Coleman Novels, Death Pact, Plastic Gods, and coming in 2012, Unconscionable. He is also the author of the nonfiction book Go Broke, Die Rich, Turning Around the Troubled Small Business (January 2012).
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