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An Arizona Tragedy (Bailey Crane Mystery Series) Paperback – January 16, 2020

by Billy Ray Chitwood (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
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Meet Bailey Crane, a man with a life many men would only dream of having. Bailey is an actor on the local and regional scene, doing television commercials, print modeling, film, and some theater. He's a private investigator for a few attorney friends in Phoenix, a former full-time cop, and is now an auxiliary detective for the Phoenix PD. Bailey has love, friends, golf, and a bon vivant life style. For the most part the man is a crusader without a cape and has life just about where he wants it. In "An Arizona Tragedy" Bailey Crane's life takes a perilous and tumultuous twist when a young lady friend is brutally murdered in the Arizona desert. The lady friend, Cathy Gibbs, a twenty-six year old single mother of two and actress, goes missing for weeks, is then found in a desert arroyo just northeast of Scottsdale, her skull crushed, her body ravaged and unrecognizable from weeks in the relentless record heat of an Arizona August. Working privately on an estate matter for one of his attorney friends, Bailey finds the name of his lady friend's boyfriend. The discovery does not necessarily have great significance but it does start the wheels turning in the mind of our passionate and contemplative sleuth. Bailey becomes a target for an unknown pursuer and ends up battered, bruised, and angry. His strong feeling of hostility pushes him deeper into his friend's murder, and, finding a possible connecting link, he travels to Washington, D. C., to the hallowed halls and offices of the nation's lawmakers. At his hotel across the Potomac an unknown assassin strikes again, this time wounding our noble 'Sherlock'. The bad guy gets away, and Bailey has a temporary stay in a Reston, Virginia hospital. Through more ironic turns and twists Bailey goes on to solve not only his friend's homicide but another brutal slaying in the nation's capital. With the help of his PPD buddies, and, one very special female cop, the bad guy behind the gruesome killings is caught. The climactic ending scene in this Bailey Crane caper is nail-biting tense and will keep the readers riveted to their seats of choice. "An Arizona Tragedy" was inspired by two actual homicides. The Phoenix slaying of the young mother and model has never been solved - now, a very 'Cold Case' at the Phoenix Police Department. With the decomposition of the body, accelerated by the desert's extreme summer heat and denizens of the habitat, evidence was scarce. This Phoenix murder was also very personal for the author … he and his wife were friends of the real murder victim. While "An Arizona Tragedy" was written to be commercially acceptable and successful, the author also wanted it to be tokens of love and remembrance, also, just possibly, opening a new door to finding the actual fiend behind the homicide. PLEASE, if anyone can possibly shed any light on this 'cold case', contact the Phoenix, AZ Police Department's 'Cold Case' Division.
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  1. Print length
    293 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    January 16, 2020
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.74 x 8.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1797037196
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1797037196
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Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Writing "An Arizona Tragedy" was personal and painful at times...why?
The young lady brutally murdered in this novel was real, a friend of this author and his wife. The actual name of the young lady is not used in the book, but she was an aspiring actress and model, twenty-six years of age, with two children, and a legal secretary to two of the author's attorney friends. This lovely lady, aside from her acting career, had one major desire, to be happily married, to be in a family setting.This 'forever dream' of family was shattered when her life was taken in a most savage way by an unknown killer - to this day, unknown, and a 'cold case' with the Phoenix, AZ Police Department... If anyone near or far knows anything relative to this homicide, please contact the Phoenix PD. It is a 'cold case' begging for closure.The details of this homicide and the method used by the killer is as accurate as the newspaper reporting of the time. The novel is fictional in that the author endeavored to write a plausible narrative and in the process solve the case. So, the book offers up an unlikely but certainly plausible ending scenario. Just months prior to the Phoenix homicide, another young secretary was murdered in Washington, DC with a similar M.O., or, Modus Operandi. Bailey Crane, the fictional detective in this case (and in five other books in the 'Bailey Crane Mystery Series' 1-6) researches other similar murders in other states and finds the DC homicide too interesting to pass up.Through the detective work of Bailey Crane, there is an end point to the fictional case...Still, Phoenix PD has a 'cold case' that was worked for years with diligence and long hours with clues and forensics in 'short supply'. The body of the young actress was not found for weeks in an August heat-wave, her body ravaged by extreme heat and denizens of the desert, so, again, please, if anyone has information that might help the Phoenix PD solve this case, contact them immediately. Thank you.The author...

About the Author

BR Chitwood, the author of "An Arizona Tragedy, A Bailey Crane Mystery" - Book 1 of 6 in the series, each book complete in itself - has written twenty-one books, some of which are inspired by true criminal activities, other books in the Romance genre, Mystery/Suspense, Memoirs.
He is a 'Romantic' and a generational bridge crosser. He has known the 'thrill of victory and the agony of defeat' - what else for a Romantic, you say. He has lived in appalachian poverty, served his country in the US Navy, done some acting here and there, roamed the neon-lit streets in California and Arizona, for the most part in search of Love and himself.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (January 16, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 293 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1797037196
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1797037196
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.74 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

About the author

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Billy Ray Chitwood

Billy Ray Chitwood

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​​About Me

​A Dreamer! A Wanderlust! The world needs such fools as we to write our books, our poetry, our posts, our songs, and paint our canvas of beauty - to offset the madness that plagues the soul.

​

BOOKS OF MYSTERY - SUSPENSE - ACTION ​- CRIME - THRILLER - ROMANCE - MEMOIRS - FANTASY

FICTION (SOME INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS! - NON-FICTION - QUALITY READING

https://www.billyraychitwood.com (Website)

https://www.brchitwood.com (My blogs are also on Goodreads.)

https://www.twitter.com/brchitwood

https://facebook.com/billyray.chitwood

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3.8 out of 5 stars
13 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Gwendolyn Plano
    5.0 out of 5 stars A gut-wrenching mystery!
    Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Based on a real murder, this crime mystery grabs hold of readers and doesn’t let go. Chitwood is masterful in conveying tough emotions and building suspense. His descriptive detail is excellent, his dialogues natural. I wanted justice, anyone who reads this book will want justice – will demand justice. A woman is murdered in the middle of the desert. Why? Who could do such a thing? Chitwood offers clues, takes them away, offers more clues through one suspect after another. If you’re like me, you’ll read late into the night, because you need to solve the mystery.
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  • SUSAN H. MCINTYRE
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Thoroughly Enjoyable Must-Read!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I was glued to this story all the way to the end.. I want to avoid any spoilers, so I won't reveal the plot. the description, however, does not begin to show how well-written this mystery novel is. The plot has twists and turns, with a few red herrings that kept me from predicting the end. I loved that! In addition, the main character, Bailey Crane, is well-developed. I feel as if I know this guy. He philosophizes, loves, has friends, and yet stays on track of the case. This book was a delight, and I plan to read more by this author!
    One person found this helpful
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  • James Paddock
    5.0 out of 5 stars Once You Crack This Book Open, You're Not Going To Want To Close It!
    Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    I just kept coming back to it because I had to know what was going to happen next. Why would someone drag a beautiful woman out into the desert and kill her and why does her old friend Bailey Crane keep having to look over his shoulder? Was the next attempt on his life going to be successful? Of course not as there are more bailey Crane Mysteries to follow, but still...

    This is the first novel I've read by Billy Ray Chitwood and I truly enjoyed it. I'll be back for more of Bailey Crane.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Author Donna J. Thompson
    4.0 out of 5 stars An Arizona Tragedy
    Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2013
    Billy Chitwood has written a fiction novel about a real crime that happened to his wife's friend. As I read the story, I suddenly realized I couldn't tell where Billy Chitwood ended and his main character, Bailey Crane began. Somehow, I think the two may have a great deal in common.
    Billy describes Bailey Crane as a transplanted son of the south. He says there are still a few words that will give away his heritage like the word help may come out as hep. I can identify because I'm also from the South.

    Catherine Gibbs, the murdered woman, had no idea as she started her morning that this was going to be her last day on earth. She kissed her daughter, and son good-by, hugged her mom, and headed out the door thinking things were right with her world.
    Cathy worked for two of Bailey Crane's friends and she and Bailey had become casual buddies. When Bailey saw her that last morning at his friend's place of business, he noticed her face had a happy glow. He kept remembering how she looked that morning, and hearing how two kids had found her the next day with her head and face bashed in by a rock. It was that and the fact that she was his ex-wife's friend that made him determined to help solve her murder.
    Cathy met Steve Langford, her boyfriend, after work that evening and they had dinner. He was the last known person to see her alive. Langford quickly became the police's prime suspect, and Bailey Crane's as well. That is all I will reveal and you will have to read it to find out the rest.

    I enjoyed the way Chitwood told his story. He used sayings that I have never heard before. Sometimes they made me smile and sometimes they caused me to laugh out loud.
    I like the way his character, Baily Crane, describes himself after a hard night on the town. "My eyes looked like two weak and damaged headlights on an ugly foggy morning."
    I liked the way Billy Chitwood tells his story, and all I have left to say is, "Rock on, Bailey Crane."
    One person found this helpful
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  • cj
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good mystery
    Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2015
    The story was good, had a few boring parts but kept y o u guessing who murder was. I would read the next in series.
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  • Robin Leigh Morgan
    5.0 out of 5 stars A REAL-LIFE MURDER GETS TURNED INTO AN INTENSE FICTIONAL CRIME STORY
    Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2017
    I read this book via an Amazon-US KINDLE Unlimited Download.

    As a voracious Book Reviewer, as well as a True Crime Enthusiast [check the badge on my Amazon profile] I was drawn to download and read this book, for which I’m now writing a review for.

    The author, Billy Chitwood, in writing this book has shown a defined determination that all of characters and their emotions are as real as real can be, for this story is based on a True Crime Murder, a murder in which his wife’s friend had been the murder victim.

    The murder victim, Catherine Gibbs, had worked for two of the protagonist’s, Bailey Crane, friends and had been seen by him at his friend’s place of business early of the last day she was alive. Crane’s dogged dedication in resolving the murder had been caused in part two kids had disfigured head/face of the victim and that she had been his ex-wife’s friend.
    Once a possible suspect, Steve Langford, is identified, Crane’s sleuth mindedness kicks in as it starts to piece each additional tidbit of information. As is the case when the suspect fears they’re closing in on him, Crane has become a target, being pursued by an unknown assailant who has already beaten him up. This causes him to become angry and more determined than ever in solving this murder.
    With what seems to have been ever unending stream of incongruous twists in the storyline, Crane ultimately solve the murder he’s been involved with in Washington, D.C., and for good measure a second murder as well.
    For having given this true crime story aficionado, and other readers, an intense truth-based fictional murder mystery, I’m giving this endeavor by Mr. Chitwood 5 STARS.
    14 people found this helpful
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