Dark Alleys

In this second book of the Spencer Manning Mystery series, author Rick Polad ratchets up the tension. Way up. P.I. Manning is the kind of guy you’d like to hang out with, and who would never turn down the opportunity to do a favor. But when he’s asked for a simple favor this time, it leads him into a dark world of intrigue, serial killers, and sinister ladies of the evening. Polad masterfully weaves a complex mystery-thriller with intersecting plotlines and multiple suspects and pulls off the difficult job of mystifying but not confusing the reader. This is a Chicago only seen late at night. And that may be the best time to read this haunting tale of obsession and revenge, set in the dark alleys of a city that substitutes for Victorian London in the days of Jack the Ripper.

—Gary Lindberg, #1 bestselling author of The Shekinah Legacy and Sons of Zadok

Dark Alleys by Rick Polad brings private investigator, Spencer Manning, back to readers with two difficult murder scenarios to help solve. Manning remains close to Chicago police as an informer, yet he is left to his own cunning to help with this city’s tough murder crimes. As a sequel to Change of Address, this book not only doesn’t disappoint but it enamors me more with Manning, the one I’d like to call on for help when a police case is seemingly unsolvable. The characters are well developed and the suspense kept me reading chapter by chapter until I had finished it! The short chapters made it easy to put down and pick up again as time allowed—amazing planning of character development while the mysteries unfold. The potential romance between Spencer and police detective Rosie is enticing. I want to know more! Where is book # 3?

—Cheryl Roberts, Author of Lighthouse Families and numerous other lighthouse books

Rick Polad’s taut suspense thriller, Dark Alleys, begins as many mysteries do. But that’s where the similarities end. Dark Alleys is different. Rick Polad makes sure of it. In his inventive and complex novel, nothing is as it seems. The answers he finds only leads to more perplexing questions. The girl is a prostitute. Is she in trouble? Prostitutes are dying, brutally murdered. Is she in danger? Or does she know more about the serial killer than anyone suspects? What secrets lurk deep within her? Does she have the final answer? And is she the key to Spenser piecing together another intriguing puzzle before someone else is destined to die today? In a Rick Polad thriller, the truth is always hard to find. Just when you have it all figured out, you don’t.

—Caleb and Linda Pirtle, verified review on Amazon