Guarding Lacey

Private detective Smokey Dalton does his best to protect his adopted family, from his 11-year-old son Jimmy to his friends, the Grimshaws.  But Smokey can't see everything.  Jimmy notices that Lacey Grimshaw—"thirteen going on trouble," Smokey says—skips school to hang out with an adult man.  Jimmy doesn't want to tattle, but he's worried about Lacey. So he pretends he's Smokey, and follows her, learning secrets that will change him—and Lacey—forever.

"Excellent…Kris Nelscott's first short case for Smokey Dalton requires him to be as sensitive and brave as her novels (do)."

—Kirkus

"(A) crime writer deliberately taking chances."

—Chicago Tribune

 "Kris Nelscott has created an intriguing character in Smokey Dalton, a tough-guy black private eye based in Chicago."

—Seattle Post-Intelligencer