Ridley Pearson

Ridley Pearson is a New York Times bestselling author with over 24 novels published. His work is extremely diverse, from children’s fiction to crime novels, paranormal and adventure; his novels often incorporate a compelling combination of realistic high-tech forensic wizardry and hair-trigger suspense. One of his best-known crime novels, Undercurrents, contained cutting-edge forensic ideas that helped solve a real-life homicide case. Another, Chain of Evidence, was the first to raise the possibility of a "crime gene"—which later became the focus of a high-profile genetics conference. He has published several popular crime series featuring recurring characters, as well as standalone novels under his own name and the pseudonyms Joyce Reardon, Ph.D. and Wendell McCall.
Pearson was the first American to receive the Raymond Chandler Fulbright fellowship at Oxford University, the site of his research for best-selling novels No Witnesses and The Angel Maker. He was also a founding member and bass player for the Rock Bottom Remainders, a band comprised of best-selling authors including Dave Barry and Stephen King.

Featured Books By Author

Blood of the Albatross

It starts out so simply for Jay Becker, an overworked, underpaid musician trying to earn some extra cash by giving sailing lessons on Puget Sound. He gets drawn into a whirlwind of events and characters that will change his life—and perhaps the future of his country—forever. It begins when he meets the exotic, mysterious Marlene, a beauty who wants to hire Jay for what appears to be a simple sailing expedition. Once involved, he becomes the link in a deadly chain of events. Blood of the Albatross is a supercharged novel of espionage and romance that puts one young, innocent man in the middle of a kaleidoscope of spy, counterspy; cross, double-cross—with the lives of himself, the woman he loves, and his best friend hanging in the balance. Like the best of Ludlum and Follett, Ridley Pearson will keep you fiercely turning pages.
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Probable Cause

The setting is Carmel, California—a scenic, peaceful tourist haven where James Dewitt is the police force's only detective. His usual caseload is stolen bicycles and an occasional burglary, but things change with frightening speed when a series of apparent suicides, which soon prove to be murders, shocks the community. Dewitt, a former forensic scientist, struggles with the minutest of clues in his quest for the killer, while departmental turf wars and local politics increase the pressures on his investigation. His steps are further dogged by renegade ex-cop Howard Lumbrowski, the man Dewitt blames for his wife's death. How is Lumbrowski connected to the killings? And why does he have information from Dewitt's confidential files? Dewitt finds himself playing a dangerous game, breaking his own rules in a desperate search for answers.
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Aim for the Heart

Chris Klick, amateur missing-persons bloodhound, ex-musician, and sometimes-sleuth, would really like a day off. But after a small plane plummets into a gas station in rural Idaho, Klick knows that’s impossible. Instead, he must team up with his buddy Lyel to track down a missing county courthouse employee connected to the plane crash and other freak accidents. Was she kidnapped? Is she on the run from her creditors? Searching for answers and finding only trouble, Klick’s questions pile on and the stakes climb higher.

Originally published under the name Wendell McCall from 1988 through 1999, author Ridley Pearson’s Aim for the Heart, the second installment in the three-book Chris Klick Mysteries series, retains all of its hard-boiled wit, grit, and sense of adventure today.

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Ridley Pearson