Sam Blackman Mysteries: The Adventurous Historical Series You Will Inhale

Angry, disillusioned, injured, and grieving, former Chief Warrant Officer Sam Blackman’s life is falling apart. Recovering from an amputation, the last thing he expects in his hospital bed is a job offer. Fellow amputee Timika Robertson tells him she has an opportunity for Sam to use his investigative skills. 

But before she comes back with more information, her body is found floating in the French Broad River. Things get stranger when Timika’s sister, Nakayla, brings Sam a journal dating back to 1919 that captures Timika’s great-great-grandfather’s death—in the same river.

And on the inside cover are the words, “For Sam Blackman”. Now, it’s up to him to uncover the truth. 

Sam Blackman and his new partner Nakayla Robertson are opening a detective agency. They already have a client, and while her request is strange, it seems easy enough. She wants to right a wrong she committed 70 years ago when she stole a manuscript from F. Scott Fitzgerald.

But when they find the lockbox the manuscript is inside, it’s sealed with a swastika and reflects a scene from the Great Gatsby. 

Before he can figure out what the symbolism means, a security guard is killed and the lockbox stolen. And to make matters worse, Sam’s final case in Iraq has followed him home, putting his friends and family in danger. 

Their case should have been simple. All Sam Blackman and his partner Nakayla Robertson had to do was catch a history professor engaging in physical activities that her malpractice lawsuit claims she shouldn’t be able to do.

When Sam finds her climbing a trail to the top of Glassy Mountain, he thinks he has all the evidence he needs. Until he finds her bleeding on a mountain outcrop. Her last words are, “It’s the Sandburg verses.” 

An autopsy reveals her injuries were very real and as the first person on the scene, Sam is now a suspect. But why would an injured woman risk such a strenuous hike? Even stranger, the Sandburg volumes are stolen, convincing Sam that someone is willing to kill to keep their secrets buried. 

The Blackman and Robertson Detective Agency faces its first crisis—no clients. To distract the increasingly grumpy Sam, Nakayla takes him on a mushroom hunt where he stumbles on a skeleton. But while it’s obvious this is a case of murder; the skeleton isn’t his client and the local authorities don’t want Sam’s help. 

Meanwhile, Marsha Montgomery asks Sam to investigate the theft of her mother’s camera and a photograph from renowed photographer Doris Ulmann. The catch? The burglary happened in 1967. Sam has more questions than answers until Mastha’s mother is arrested for murder. 

Could the skeleton be Marsha’s white father? The one who disappeared after interracial marriage was allowed? There’s a killer hiding in the shadows, and revealing the truth may put everyone, even Sam, in danger. 

Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson are conducting a fundraiser for orphaned twin boys. The event is a nighttime ghost tour through the haunted Asheville sites.

But when a local legend is reenacted, the accuracy of the portrayal turns deadly and an actress dies. It could be a terrible accident, until a second ghost story is also brought to deadly life. 

As the evidence starts piling against Sam’s friend and defense attorney, Hewitt Donaldson, Sam and Nakayla fight to prove his innocence. After all, his life may depend on it.

It seems the only thing the murderer wants is revenge. To keep their friend alive, Sam and Nakayla have to figure out who is after Hewitt and why. Before it’s too late. 

Even though Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson agree to take on a case, they’re not optimistic they can succeed. After all, the death occurred 70 years ago and was ruled a hiking accident.

They finally get a lead, when Sam gets a call from a friend of the victim. He found something and needs to show Sam. Only, when the next morning, the friend is found dead. Suddenly, the cold case is burning hot.

What ties an accident from the past to a murder in the present? Sam and Nakayla have to work overtime to find out. 

The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute plays a vital role in gathering weather and climate data. But decades ago, it monitored the developing Space Race during the Cold War.

And now, they’ve discovered a long-buried body. So why does the discovery lead to the current murder of the dead man’s fiancé?  She’s found among the garbage of the dark Rat Alley, in the middle of Asheville’s mountain music scene.

Good thing the Blackman and Robertson Detective Agency has a knack for investigating current crimes steeped in historical context. Because to solve today’s case, they have to go back to the Cold War era and solve the first. 

Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson are hired to investigate the death of an environmentalist monitoring the water quality near Pigeon River. His widow doesn’t believe it was an accident.

Especially because there were no water or soil samples found near his body. Sam might agree. Considering he witnessed an argument between the victim and mill heir Luke Kirkpatrick two days ago. 

Any water contamination threatens Luke and his property and their future expansion plans directly. As tensions escalate, a local festival faces violent setbacks. Sam can’t help but wonder if the two events are related.

But if they are, that just means he and Nakayla have to work that much faster to find the killer before things get worse.