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Murderous Passion
The first of the Turner Hahn/Frank Morales police-procedural series. Four cases, all unrelated, being worked on at the same time. But that's okay. It's nothing new for Turner and Frank. They've succeeded with so little help, for such a long time, it's accepted as the norm.
- GenresMystery
Mass Market Paperback
First published September 29, 2008
116 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
B.R. Stateham
66 books194 followersI am a soon to be a seventy five year old writer of genre fiction. And yes, my portrait was used in 1931 for the original design of Boris Karloff's Frankenstein (well, maybe I'm stretching the truth just an itsy-bitsy bit).
I write hardboiled/noir. And fantasy. And someday . . . someday I plan to make a buck two ninety-five doing it. But I'm not holding my breath.
I write hardboiled/noir. And fantasy. And someday . . . someday I plan to make a buck two ninety-five doing it. But I'm not holding my breath.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 25, 2020
Crime fiction, while not a genre I read often, never fails to pull me in and Murderous Passions was no exception. The plot in itself is exciting from the start and the introduction of several other criminal investigations only serves to boost the excitement as you read. In using the variety of crimes, the story allows a greater look into the society it is set in and adds further to each of the characters personalities in how they approach them. It is also written in such a way that makes you want to keep reading, the switching between cases encouraging you to read on to find out what's happening in the others. Also, while Stateham reveals clues along the way to allow you to form your own suspicions, the book keeps you guessing right up to the very end. A fantastic read! The only thing that brought down my rating were a few minor grammatical errors (some spelling here and there) that should be addressed for future works.
June 17, 2020
4 Cranky Stars
This book is a murder mystery it started with the garote of Dr Holdridge who worked at a very prestigious university. As the story goes on 2 more cases were on Frank Morales and Turner Hahn, both homicide DS's, books. It made the book quite exciting to have different murder cases to solve. There's a small bit of romance just to spice it up.
My own thoughts though was the ending of the big murder, it was solved so quickly. Worth a read for sure.
This book is a murder mystery it started with the garote of Dr Holdridge who worked at a very prestigious university. As the story goes on 2 more cases were on Frank Morales and Turner Hahn, both homicide DS's, books. It made the book quite exciting to have different murder cases to solve. There's a small bit of romance just to spice it up.
My own thoughts though was the ending of the big murder, it was solved so quickly. Worth a read for sure.
November 22, 2025
Pride, greed and plagiarism
It is refreshing to read a book without a lot of confusing detail and an abundance of unnecessary wording to just fill pages. B. R. Statham was able to keep me thrilled with suspense and on the edge of my seat with this mystery. The characters were great and believable. The academic pride of professors and higher educational leadership, coupled with common greed, sets the stage for murder. You will have to read the book to uncover what lengths some people will go to to take credit for the work, and discoveries of others.
I thought the book had a slow and unappealing beginning but soon became engrossing. I hope you enjoy the tale.
It is refreshing to read a book without a lot of confusing detail and an abundance of unnecessary wording to just fill pages. B. R. Statham was able to keep me thrilled with suspense and on the edge of my seat with this mystery. The characters were great and believable. The academic pride of professors and higher educational leadership, coupled with common greed, sets the stage for murder. You will have to read the book to uncover what lengths some people will go to to take credit for the work, and discoveries of others.
I thought the book had a slow and unappealing beginning but soon became engrossing. I hope you enjoy the tale.
December 5, 2025
This was a book more about a police team, police procedures and a few cases. There was slightly more focus on their most recent case than the other three.
It was okay. I understand the author trying to build the scene, but it was unnecessarily wordy. It got to the point that I started skimming some paragraphs to avoid descriptions. It also got repetitive, at times. The characters were okay. It does need to go back to editing. Besides typos, there were conflicting information.
It was okay. I understand the author trying to build the scene, but it was unnecessarily wordy. It got to the point that I started skimming some paragraphs to avoid descriptions. It also got repetitive, at times. The characters were okay. It does need to go back to editing. Besides typos, there were conflicting information.
January 28, 2024
A very rare 5 stars. I'm stingy with them. What a great duo these 2 detectives are. They've been partners a long time and can almost read each others minds. Great cop sarcasm and humor. Realistic dialogue. Story moves along nicely.
May 27, 2024
A good story with interesting characters well told.
Turner and Frank have their hands full with several murder cases to handle while trying to help Karen get threw her hard times at the University.
Turner and Frank have their hands full with several murder cases to handle while trying to help Karen get threw her hard times at the University.
April 17, 2011
B.R. Stateham’s “Murderous Passions”(Publish America, 2009) sets forth an ambitious task for its protagonists and readers: two detectives have four separate homicides to solve in one novel.
The result is manna for those starved for honest-to-goodness police procedurals. Stateham’s old school style shrugs off today’s trendy“CSI” and “Monk” procedural formats. He opts to cut straight to the bone of yesteryear, with a healthy dose of good ol’ boy testosterone. This is cut-and-dry, whack-‘em-and-stack-‘em cop porn. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad and the beer is as cold as the dames are hot. “Passions” is a red-blooded novel paired best with the juices of a thick burger dripping down your chin.
Detective Sergeant Turner Hahn oozes with this masculinity. He’s even described as looking like classic alpha male Clark Gable. Hahn’s foil is Detective Sergeant Frank Morales, a round-headed chump who is stiff as lumber and hits just as hard. They trade shots at each other and the criminals they pursue as they muscle through the quartet of homicide cases.
Actually, it’s more like one case. The main focus of “Passions”is the grisly death of the late Dr. Walter Holdridge. The novel opens with Hahn and Morales inspecting the scene of the deceased professor in his laboratory. From there, they delve into a complex world of university grants, academic egomania and a fellow professor’s undergarments.
The three other homicide cases break up the Holdridge investigation with dent-your-face action scenes. The author has Hahn and Morales rushing from placid crime scenes to crack the skulls of the city’s most notorious dirt bags.
While these vignettes are entertaining, they are also distracting. Keeping track of four homicides can be as laborious for the reader as it is for the exhausted Hahn and Morales.
That isn’t to say the characters aren’t enough to hold attention. Hahn is the most interesting, given he is flush with inheritance and libido. But with the distraction of a four-case load, he doesn’t have time to let the reader explore his character. Hahn could easily hold his own were he given the space in a future work. But in “Passions,” the reader only sees the surface of what could become a classic crime fiction detective.
The same goes for the centerpiece case in “Passions,” the Holdridge homicide. It was interesting enough to warrant its own novel. It didn’t need three simultaneous cases as supplements. The result has the author breezing over facets of the case that beg for exploration.
Likewise, the other three cases do not receive the satisfying crunch of a case closed. They end at different spots within the novel’s time frame, throwing off the reader’s sense of climax.
Still, “Passions” will find a place for police procedural enthusiasts yearning for the black-and-white detectives of yesteryear. Author Stateham has pushed the genre back to its no-BS roots. He’s in deep and he’s not full of it. Give Hahn and his case load a little room to breathe, and it’s only a matter of time before root-digging readers meet Stateham.
The result is manna for those starved for honest-to-goodness police procedurals. Stateham’s old school style shrugs off today’s trendy“CSI” and “Monk” procedural formats. He opts to cut straight to the bone of yesteryear, with a healthy dose of good ol’ boy testosterone. This is cut-and-dry, whack-‘em-and-stack-‘em cop porn. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad and the beer is as cold as the dames are hot. “Passions” is a red-blooded novel paired best with the juices of a thick burger dripping down your chin.
Detective Sergeant Turner Hahn oozes with this masculinity. He’s even described as looking like classic alpha male Clark Gable. Hahn’s foil is Detective Sergeant Frank Morales, a round-headed chump who is stiff as lumber and hits just as hard. They trade shots at each other and the criminals they pursue as they muscle through the quartet of homicide cases.
Actually, it’s more like one case. The main focus of “Passions”is the grisly death of the late Dr. Walter Holdridge. The novel opens with Hahn and Morales inspecting the scene of the deceased professor in his laboratory. From there, they delve into a complex world of university grants, academic egomania and a fellow professor’s undergarments.
The three other homicide cases break up the Holdridge investigation with dent-your-face action scenes. The author has Hahn and Morales rushing from placid crime scenes to crack the skulls of the city’s most notorious dirt bags.
While these vignettes are entertaining, they are also distracting. Keeping track of four homicides can be as laborious for the reader as it is for the exhausted Hahn and Morales.
That isn’t to say the characters aren’t enough to hold attention. Hahn is the most interesting, given he is flush with inheritance and libido. But with the distraction of a four-case load, he doesn’t have time to let the reader explore his character. Hahn could easily hold his own were he given the space in a future work. But in “Passions,” the reader only sees the surface of what could become a classic crime fiction detective.
The same goes for the centerpiece case in “Passions,” the Holdridge homicide. It was interesting enough to warrant its own novel. It didn’t need three simultaneous cases as supplements. The result has the author breezing over facets of the case that beg for exploration.
Likewise, the other three cases do not receive the satisfying crunch of a case closed. They end at different spots within the novel’s time frame, throwing off the reader’s sense of climax.
Still, “Passions” will find a place for police procedural enthusiasts yearning for the black-and-white detectives of yesteryear. Author Stateham has pushed the genre back to its no-BS roots. He’s in deep and he’s not full of it. Give Hahn and his case load a little room to breathe, and it’s only a matter of time before root-digging readers meet Stateham.
April 19, 2011
I have always enjoyed a good 'cop' story, but it has to be one that lets me feel like I'm on a ride-along. I want to see not just the crime, but life in general, not only through the eyes of the criminal, but also through the eyes of the cop(s) as well. Murderous Passions has it all. This one will grab you right from the start, hang on tight, and never let you go. Course, you don't want it to!
Turner and Frank are the greatest thing since ham and eggs. They are perfectly partnered, and compliment each others' personalities and abilities. I wouldn't want to be the bad guy these two are after, but it sure is exhilarating to be permitted to shadow them as they work through their cases.
These are two partners you definitely will want to keep following.
Turner and Frank are the greatest thing since ham and eggs. They are perfectly partnered, and compliment each others' personalities and abilities. I wouldn't want to be the bad guy these two are after, but it sure is exhilarating to be permitted to shadow them as they work through their cases.
These are two partners you definitely will want to keep following.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews