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Joey Mancuso, Father O'Brian #1-3
Joey Mancuso Crime Mysteries: Volumes 1 - 3
Lucky for readers, that’s a great opportunity for the kind of rare mystery series with something for everyone —a tough guy, three awesome women, and a classic Golden Age gentleman-detective clergyman. The twist? The cop and the cleric are half-brothers who operate a PI firm out of their bar.
Captain O’Brian’s Pub and Cigar Bar, with its old-world New York warmth and reliably friendly Irish bartender is a character in itself, the kind of place that’s like home to its devotees.
So when one of the brothers’ best customers dies in an apparent suicide —a Wall Street guy celebrating a new client the night before-- they're just not feeling it. They know he wasn’t a guy who wanted to die; and they quickly find out he was someone a lot of people wanted dead.
It’s a made-to-order financial puzzle for a couple of seasoned New York PI’s, with the kind of twists and scams and puzzles that warm a mystery fan’s heart like a shot of Jameson.
Captain O’Brian’s Pub and Cigar Bar, with its old-world New York warmth and reliably friendly Irish bartender is a character in itself, the kind of place that’s like home to its devotees.
So when one of the brothers’ best customers dies in an apparent suicide —a Wall Street guy celebrating a new client the night before-- they're just not feeling it. They know he wasn’t a guy who wanted to die; and they quickly find out he was someone a lot of people wanted dead.
It’s a made-to-order financial puzzle for a couple of seasoned New York PI’s, with the kind of twists and scams and puzzles that warm a mystery fan’s heart like a shot of Jameson.
679 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 30, 2020
386 people are currently reading
198 people want to read
About the author
Owen Parr
65 books85 followersThe Abduction of Patient Zero: Joey Mancuso, Father O’Brian Crime Mysteries Book 6
2020 FAPA President’s Book Awards Winner – Adult Fiction – Mystery/Suspense (Gold).
Happy to announce that this past December, 2018, I was honored to have won the Bronze Medal from Readers' Favorite during the Miami Book Fair. A "Murder on Wall Street" won for Mystery-Legal genre.
Owen was awarded the New Apple Literary Services award -Solo Medalist in Mystery, for his A Murder on Wall Street on February 14th, 2017. This is a REPEAt award, as Owen won the same award in 2016 for his Operation Raven - The Dead Have Secrets. Readers have compared Owen's novels to classics from Robert Ludlum and Michaels Connelly. One reader wrote: "If Ludlum and Connelly wrote a novel together, it would be an Owen Parr novel." Utilizing his experiences of over a quarter of a century working for Wall Street firms, he has crafted a series of political intrigue and crime novels, fusing fiction with facts. Born in Havana, Cuba, and later growing up in Miami. He enjoys reading fiction to transport himself to another world. And in his writing, he does that for his readers in a very successful way. His readers are fully wrapped in the plots and have fallen in love with his amazing characters.
Published author of articles in trade magazines. Hobby painter of acrylics on canvasses and middle of the road golfer, Owen spends his day still employed in the financial advice industry.
Married at the age of nineteen he pursued a career in electrical engineering until boredom set in. From there he went to own and operate his own multi-branch real estate firm and licensing school.
Since 1986 he has been employed in the financial advice industry. During this time he has written articles for the local paper, political ramblings for his blog and screenplays that he is now converting into fictional novels.
In 1959 my father and mother left everything behind in order to move to the United States. Miami Beach, to be more specific. It is interesting to note, before you say, “Owen Parr” a Cuban? That, my dad, also Owen Parr, was born in New York and his dad moved to Havana when my dad was eight years old.
Moving on, I grew up in Miami Beach, finished my elementary education at St. Joseph’s and attended high school at St. Patrick’s, both in Miami Beach and obviously Catholic schools. After high school, I began college seeking a career in Electrical Engineering. Mr. Parr, my dad, was a Civil engineer and had wanted me to study engineering. My two older brothers had declined that invitation, so I felt duty bound to comply with his wishes.
For six years I worked in the engineering department of our local utility, Florida Power and Light. Bored to death, I opened a side business during the construction boom in South Florida, circa 1970’s and sold floor coverings and appliances to builders for their newly constructed homes and condominiums. This was the time in Miami when the so-called “drug-wars” began, which lasted through the 1980’s.
I consolidated my efforts by selling my part-time business to my partner and left FP&L to go into real estate sales full-time. Four years later, I opened my own real estate company and grew it to five offices with over one hundred associates and a real estate school. In my thirties and in the middle of a personal boom, interest rates for mortgages climbed to 19%, with the Prime Rate at 21%, as Jimmy Carter left and Ronald Reagan became president. No one, I mean, no one bought homes at that point. So, I sold my real estate company for a minuscule fraction of what it had been worth and moved on.
In 1986, just prior to the stock market crash of 1987, I became a financial advisor with a major Wall Street firm. Proud to say, I swam upstream and thirty plus years later, I am still at it and enjoying it tremendously. Taking care of my clients is paramount. Today, I enjoy a partnership in my business with an associate, that will cate
2020 FAPA President’s Book Awards Winner – Adult Fiction – Mystery/Suspense (Gold).
Happy to announce that this past December, 2018, I was honored to have won the Bronze Medal from Readers' Favorite during the Miami Book Fair. A "Murder on Wall Street" won for Mystery-Legal genre.
Owen was awarded the New Apple Literary Services award -Solo Medalist in Mystery, for his A Murder on Wall Street on February 14th, 2017. This is a REPEAt award, as Owen won the same award in 2016 for his Operation Raven - The Dead Have Secrets. Readers have compared Owen's novels to classics from Robert Ludlum and Michaels Connelly. One reader wrote: "If Ludlum and Connelly wrote a novel together, it would be an Owen Parr novel." Utilizing his experiences of over a quarter of a century working for Wall Street firms, he has crafted a series of political intrigue and crime novels, fusing fiction with facts. Born in Havana, Cuba, and later growing up in Miami. He enjoys reading fiction to transport himself to another world. And in his writing, he does that for his readers in a very successful way. His readers are fully wrapped in the plots and have fallen in love with his amazing characters.
Published author of articles in trade magazines. Hobby painter of acrylics on canvasses and middle of the road golfer, Owen spends his day still employed in the financial advice industry.
Married at the age of nineteen he pursued a career in electrical engineering until boredom set in. From there he went to own and operate his own multi-branch real estate firm and licensing school.
Since 1986 he has been employed in the financial advice industry. During this time he has written articles for the local paper, political ramblings for his blog and screenplays that he is now converting into fictional novels.
In 1959 my father and mother left everything behind in order to move to the United States. Miami Beach, to be more specific. It is interesting to note, before you say, “Owen Parr” a Cuban? That, my dad, also Owen Parr, was born in New York and his dad moved to Havana when my dad was eight years old.
Moving on, I grew up in Miami Beach, finished my elementary education at St. Joseph’s and attended high school at St. Patrick’s, both in Miami Beach and obviously Catholic schools. After high school, I began college seeking a career in Electrical Engineering. Mr. Parr, my dad, was a Civil engineer and had wanted me to study engineering. My two older brothers had declined that invitation, so I felt duty bound to comply with his wishes.
For six years I worked in the engineering department of our local utility, Florida Power and Light. Bored to death, I opened a side business during the construction boom in South Florida, circa 1970’s and sold floor coverings and appliances to builders for their newly constructed homes and condominiums. This was the time in Miami when the so-called “drug-wars” began, which lasted through the 1980’s.
I consolidated my efforts by selling my part-time business to my partner and left FP&L to go into real estate sales full-time. Four years later, I opened my own real estate company and grew it to five offices with over one hundred associates and a real estate school. In my thirties and in the middle of a personal boom, interest rates for mortgages climbed to 19%, with the Prime Rate at 21%, as Jimmy Carter left and Ronald Reagan became president. No one, I mean, no one bought homes at that point. So, I sold my real estate company for a minuscule fraction of what it had been worth and moved on.
In 1986, just prior to the stock market crash of 1987, I became a financial advisor with a major Wall Street firm. Proud to say, I swam upstream and thirty plus years later, I am still at it and enjoying it tremendously. Taking care of my clients is paramount. Today, I enjoy a partnership in my business with an associate, that will cate
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 3, 2022
Could have been 4 stars … should be 0 stars … let's settle for 2 stars.
Very imaginative themes; very clever twists a surprise pitfalls: and compelling challenges set the stage for three exceptional yarns.
All of that goes down the toilet with more than one-third of the pages spoiled with astonishing grsammatical; punctuation; and spelling errors. Enhanced by horriffic formatting—which changes, flip-flopping throughout the set.
Very imaginative themes; very clever twists a surprise pitfalls: and compelling challenges set the stage for three exceptional yarns.
All of that goes down the toilet with more than one-third of the pages spoiled with astonishing grsammatical; punctuation; and spelling errors. Enhanced by horriffic formatting—which changes, flip-flopping throughout the set.
June 9, 2023
I enjoyed reading about Joey Mancuso so much that when I began book 3 in this series I ordered Volumes 4 - 6 and will be purchasing Volume 7 & 8! These are great books. I didn't care for the "subject" of extreme sex but don't worry, Father Dominic got me through it! I LOVED Father Dom is in these books! I am concerned about Marcy!
March 8, 2022
Please see individual stories for review.
A PRIEST, AN EX-COP, AND THREE BADASS BABES WALK INTO A BAR…
Lucky for readers, that’s a great opportunity for the kind of rare mystery series with something for everyone—a tough guy, three awesome women, and a classic Golden Age gentleman-detective clergyman. The twist? The cop and the cleric are half-brothers who operate a PI firm out of their bar.
Captain O’Brian’s Pub and Cigar Bar, with its old-world New York warmth and reliably friendly Irish bartender is a character in itself, the kind of place that’s like home to its devotees.
So when one of the brothers’ best customers dies in an apparent suicide —a Wall Street guy celebrating a new client the night before-- they're just not feeling it. They know he wasn’t a guy who wanted to die; and they quickly find out he was someone a lot of people wanted dead.
It’s a made-to-order financial puzzle for a couple of seasoned New York PI’s, with the kind of twists and scams and puzzles that warm a mystery fan’s heart like a shot of Jameson.
BOOK 2 -TOO MANY LEADS, TWO FEW BREAKS, AND only TEN DAYS TO GO IN THE TRIAL OF THE YEAR…
Things are finally turning around at Captain O’Brian’s Pub and Cigar Bar, an oddball location for a PI office, but the kind of warm, buzzy scene every mystery reader loves. After first getting fired, then earning a glowing reputation in his first high-profile case as a PI, ex-NYPD Detective Joey Mancuso’s back on the crime scene with his half-brother and Brooklyn’s favorite man of the cloth, Father Dominic O’Brian.
Just in time for Christmas, a wealthy real estate developer named Harold Longworth is on trial for the murder of his wife in the bedroom of their Long Island mansion, and the Manhattan elite are glued to their seats.The odds are stacked steeply against the developer. It seems he called 911 twenty whole minutes after discovering his wife’s body, was found covered in her blood, and his prints were on the murder weapon.
BOOK 3 -MANHATTAN PLAGUED BY TERROR: RED RIBBON KILLER RAMPAGES!The third outing in the gripping Mancuso-O’Brian murder mystery series, this case is particularly fascinating, Watson—because it’s about to get personal!,h3>
When meticulous NYPD cop-turned-private eye Joey Mancuso is called in to help the Midtown South precinct solve a series of brutal murders targeting young professional women. Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy once said: “Murder is not about lust, and it’s not about violence. It’s about possession”—a notion that haunts the NYPD when three isolated strangulation cases leave the midtown unit stumped.
Case #1 at first seems to be an eve of kinky sex gone wrong. But when second and third bodies turn up—this time with the sign of the cross carved into their breasts—New York’s finest think they have a serial killer on their hands. There couldn’t be a better time to call in wry private investigator Joey Mancuso and his brother, Father Dominic O’Brian. Joey finds himself grasping at straws—and concocting a psychological profile of his killer, thanks to some tips from his FBI agent sometime-girlfriend. Why the gruesome carving of the crucifix? And why are all the murders so close to NYPD’s Midtown South Precinct? The more Joey digs, the more he realizes his victims aren’t simply the victims of patterned sex crimes, but of a narcissistic psychopath gunning for someone—someone with ties to the precinct, perhaps.
Fans of New York detective shows from Blue Bloods to Elementary will find it right up their alley, and devotees of Golden Age mysteries will love it, especially those set in New York, like Ellery Queen and Nero Wolfe; and those starring brainy clergymen, like Father Brown, The Rabbi, and Father Dowling.Author Owen Parr has modeled his heroes after Holmes and Watson, and all the Doylesque markings of a head-scratching, heart-racing puzzler lie in these pages.
A PRIEST, AN EX-COP, AND THREE BADASS BABES WALK INTO A BAR…
Lucky for readers, that’s a great opportunity for the kind of rare mystery series with something for everyone—a tough guy, three awesome women, and a classic Golden Age gentleman-detective clergyman. The twist? The cop and the cleric are half-brothers who operate a PI firm out of their bar.
Captain O’Brian’s Pub and Cigar Bar, with its old-world New York warmth and reliably friendly Irish bartender is a character in itself, the kind of place that’s like home to its devotees.
So when one of the brothers’ best customers dies in an apparent suicide —a Wall Street guy celebrating a new client the night before-- they're just not feeling it. They know he wasn’t a guy who wanted to die; and they quickly find out he was someone a lot of people wanted dead.
It’s a made-to-order financial puzzle for a couple of seasoned New York PI’s, with the kind of twists and scams and puzzles that warm a mystery fan’s heart like a shot of Jameson.
BOOK 2 -TOO MANY LEADS, TWO FEW BREAKS, AND only TEN DAYS TO GO IN THE TRIAL OF THE YEAR…
Things are finally turning around at Captain O’Brian’s Pub and Cigar Bar, an oddball location for a PI office, but the kind of warm, buzzy scene every mystery reader loves. After first getting fired, then earning a glowing reputation in his first high-profile case as a PI, ex-NYPD Detective Joey Mancuso’s back on the crime scene with his half-brother and Brooklyn’s favorite man of the cloth, Father Dominic O’Brian.
Just in time for Christmas, a wealthy real estate developer named Harold Longworth is on trial for the murder of his wife in the bedroom of their Long Island mansion, and the Manhattan elite are glued to their seats.The odds are stacked steeply against the developer. It seems he called 911 twenty whole minutes after discovering his wife’s body, was found covered in her blood, and his prints were on the murder weapon.
BOOK 3 -MANHATTAN PLAGUED BY TERROR: RED RIBBON KILLER RAMPAGES!The third outing in the gripping Mancuso-O’Brian murder mystery series, this case is particularly fascinating, Watson—because it’s about to get personal!,h3>
When meticulous NYPD cop-turned-private eye Joey Mancuso is called in to help the Midtown South precinct solve a series of brutal murders targeting young professional women. Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy once said: “Murder is not about lust, and it’s not about violence. It’s about possession”—a notion that haunts the NYPD when three isolated strangulation cases leave the midtown unit stumped.
Case #1 at first seems to be an eve of kinky sex gone wrong. But when second and third bodies turn up—this time with the sign of the cross carved into their breasts—New York’s finest think they have a serial killer on their hands. There couldn’t be a better time to call in wry private investigator Joey Mancuso and his brother, Father Dominic O’Brian. Joey finds himself grasping at straws—and concocting a psychological profile of his killer, thanks to some tips from his FBI agent sometime-girlfriend. Why the gruesome carving of the crucifix? And why are all the murders so close to NYPD’s Midtown South Precinct? The more Joey digs, the more he realizes his victims aren’t simply the victims of patterned sex crimes, but of a narcissistic psychopath gunning for someone—someone with ties to the precinct, perhaps.
Fans of New York detective shows from Blue Bloods to Elementary will find it right up their alley, and devotees of Golden Age mysteries will love it, especially those set in New York, like Ellery Queen and Nero Wolfe; and those starring brainy clergymen, like Father Brown, The Rabbi, and Father Dowling.Author Owen Parr has modeled his heroes after Holmes and Watson, and all the Doylesque markings of a head-scratching, heart-racing puzzler lie in these pages.
February 14, 2021
NYC at it's Finest
You know the joint: around the corner and down the street. The unpreposessing little Irish pub with the aroma of a humidor mixed with good bourbon and fine, single-malt Scotch. Sinatra or Bennett are on the jukebox, serenading the old-timey black and white photos on the walls of celebs with the former owner. Well worn booths line the bar where an incognito celebrity might be spied getting away from it all. The Joey Mancuso Mysteries 1-3 are engrossing and entertaining. Engaging characters crafted in a personable style wend their way through twisted plots peppered with murders. Don't miss out on this exciting series of whodunits where it ain't over til it's over, baby.
You know the joint: around the corner and down the street. The unpreposessing little Irish pub with the aroma of a humidor mixed with good bourbon and fine, single-malt Scotch. Sinatra or Bennett are on the jukebox, serenading the old-timey black and white photos on the walls of celebs with the former owner. Well worn booths line the bar where an incognito celebrity might be spied getting away from it all. The Joey Mancuso Mysteries 1-3 are engrossing and entertaining. Engaging characters crafted in a personable style wend their way through twisted plots peppered with murders. Don't miss out on this exciting series of whodunits where it ain't over til it's over, baby.
July 3, 2024
Three stories in one purchase, a delight with one issue. The main character, Joey Mancuso regularly overwhelmed the plot with snarky thoughts and comments, but not completely. When focused on the case at hand, the author deftly moves the story forward building strong teamwork in a detective agency being built from the ground up. Lots of room here to continue the stories using character development of all the other characters . And these characters take Joey Mancuso's expertise as a once first class detective to great heights. Other characters, his sweetheart, his partner Patrick, his brother the priest, Agnes the tech expert all greatly add to Mancuso's team. I am not sure that I would read another, if it were available. Mancuso is a lot too much for me, but it is tempting.
January 19, 2021
I borrowed this from Kindle Unlimited and thoroughly enjoyed it. However, note to editor, the Prologue to book 3 has a significant number of errors in it including formatting and grammatical. Once into Chapter 1 the grammatical problems seemed to go away but there were formatting issues well into the book.
September 3, 2021
Another good crime series
The characters work even though they are not well developed. Like that team efforts involved although I found that the love interest and introspection was a bit forced and seemed to be filler to make a page count. The cast of bad guys are what makes these stories work.
The characters work even though they are not well developed. Like that team efforts involved although I found that the love interest and introspection was a bit forced and seemed to be filler to make a page count. The cast of bad guys are what makes these stories work.
April 19, 2022
If grammar, punctuation and sentence structure are even a little important to you. Pass. Joey Mancuso is an irritating character, he is arrogant and inappropriate and reminds me of the guy at the party who has to be the loudest and make sure every knows who he is. I had to force myself to get through the book.
May 22, 2023
Book 3 of Joey Mancuso Mysteries
This book was excellent and the best one of the three I read. A lot of excitement and suspense. Great characters and lots of action from beginning to end. It has been a good while since I really enjoyed a book this much. Thank you Owen Parr for a great mystery with a great ending.
This book was excellent and the best one of the three I read. A lot of excitement and suspense. Great characters and lots of action from beginning to end. It has been a good while since I really enjoyed a book this much. Thank you Owen Parr for a great mystery with a great ending.
November 28, 2023
Charming, Intense and Consistently Interesting
Joey Mancuso is smart and has a great sense of humor. He sticks with what he is working on and finds the perpetrators. Joey is fiercely loyal and has many friends and contacts that assist him with his cases. Well written and intriguing characters that grab your heart.
Joey Mancuso is smart and has a great sense of humor. He sticks with what he is working on and finds the perpetrators. Joey is fiercely loyal and has many friends and contacts that assist him with his cases. Well written and intriguing characters that grab your heart.
February 26, 2021
Great series
I really enjoyed these books and I am looking forward to reading more of this series. I do wish they had their own chapters per book but still great although they did get me in some trouble with my wife for staying up late every night till I finished..
I really enjoyed these books and I am looking forward to reading more of this series. I do wish they had their own chapters per book but still great although they did get me in some trouble with my wife for staying up late every night till I finished..
August 31, 2023
Three excellent murder mysteries, plus a lot of other story lines included. See my reviews of each of the books included in this trilogy for important details. But I highly recommend all three books.
June 25, 2024
murder mystery
Interesting crime stories, many twists and turns to keep the plots flowing. Marcy irritated me being so on again, off again and complaining about joey’s dangerous job when her’s was just as dangerous.
Interesting crime stories, many twists and turns to keep the plots flowing. Marcy irritated me being so on again, off again and complaining about joey’s dangerous job when her’s was just as dangerous.
August 31, 2024
I really enjoyed the complexity of the Joey Macuso Crime Mysteries. So far I have read Volumes 1-6. All were fun and interesting themes and I appreciated that Joey's character evolved with the input of his brother and love interest. Very good!
July 29, 2020
Great story.
Great story. I felt like I knew the characters personally.
The twist and turns keep me on the edge of my seat..
Great story. I felt like I knew the characters personally.
The twist and turns keep me on the edge of my seat..
December 17, 2020
Very readable box set.
January 21, 2021
3 for 1
All excellent books, exciting, great scenes, dash of history, definitely have to read in order to make sure you get the whole story.
All excellent books, exciting, great scenes, dash of history, definitely have to read in order to make sure you get the whole story.
March 4, 2021
Loved everything about these books—the storylines, the locations but mostly all of the cast of characters especially Joey and FR. Dim. Looking forward to books 4 5 and six!
September 14, 2022
Three enjoyable mysteries. In the third book, Joey leaves his red Mustang in Miami for Marcy to drive. How did the car get there, as he flew to Miami from New York?
April 17, 2023
Good
Enjoyed the three stories. The characters were somewhat interesting. Will read more of the series. It was very well written.
Enjoyed the three stories. The characters were somewhat interesting. Will read more of the series. It was very well written.
January 18, 2025
Good writing as each story was different. Good character representation. Enjoyed the reads!
October 24, 2020
Never been proofed
I didn't finish the book since there were so many proofing errors I kept losing sight of the story line. Paragraphs repeated, tabs in the wrong places, unneeded quote marks, or missing quotes that were needed.
I didn't finish the book since there were so many proofing errors I kept losing sight of the story line. Paragraphs repeated, tabs in the wrong places, unneeded quote marks, or missing quotes that were needed.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews