Justice or illusion? Quille C. Davis risks it all to uncover deadly secrets in the world of magic.
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In the mesmerizing world of magic and illusion, lawyer and private investigator Quille C. Davis finds herself entangled in a puzzling murder case. Her task: solve the murder of her dear friend’s husband, a renowned magician with a complicated past.
The victim, Randall Petrov, recently distanced himself from his family’s business. He devoted his energy to a noble cause: a nonprofit that brought the magic of hope to hospitalized children. But in doing so, he stirred up a hornet’s nest of trouble, uncovering corruption and fraud. Additionally, Petrov conducted a daring sting operation that unmasked a fraudulent psychic who preyed upon vulnerable parents seeking solace. Suspicion falls, too, upon his own brother, set to inherit the family business.
Quille delves into the investigation, navigating not only the streets of Chicago, but a mystical European city. Her pursuit of justice comes at a great cost as she finds herself the target of deadly attempts on her life. Quille faces internal turmoil as well. Haunted by the recent resolution of her sister’s decades-old murder, Quille knows firsthand that justice does not always bring closure and healing — especially when it comes to her strained relationship with her parents.
Complicating matters is her long-distance boyfriend. Uncertainty over his return to Chicago leaves Quille torn between loyalty and the allure of an attractive and intelligent musician who aided her in a past investigation.
The Skeptical Man is a riveting mystery that takes readers through an intricate world of magic, family secrets, and personal redemption. Will Quille uncover the truth behind Randall Petrov’s murder, unearth the sinister corruption plaguing the nonprofit, and ultimately find the solace she seeks? Or will she fall prey to the same killer who ended Petrov’s life?
Get your copy today and uncover the truth behind the illusions.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About The Q.C. Davis Mysteries
Do I have to read the Q.C. Davis books in order, or can I pick up any title and dive right in?
You can read the books in any order. No later book spoils the mystery in any earlier one. Some readers like reading in order so they can follow the recurring characters’ lives as they unfold. But others enjoy jumping into the series in the middle and then going back to learn more about Quille and her friends and allies.
Who is Quille C. Davis, and how does her work as a Chicago lawyer—and her surprising stage-acting past—shape the way she investigates murders?
As a child and teenager, Quille worked as a stage actress. She changed her focus in college because she enjoyed the business courses she took and because she saw many very talented friends become frustrated with the ups and downs of the acting profession. Quille’s acting experience helps her choose how to look and what parts of her life to draw on to connect with witnesses to crimes and get them talking. Quille became a lawyer a bit later in life. That work helped her become expert at analyzing facts objectively, sizing up witnesses, and persuading people to cooperate with her. These skills, too, aid her in figuring out who committed a crime and how.
Are these mysteries gritty and graphic, or are they more psychological page-turners that skip explicit violence and sex?
Other than minor run-ins, the violence all occurs “off-screen.” There are no sex scenes, though romances and relationships are key to some storylines. For those reasons, while the novels are darker in tone than cozies, many cozy readers still enjoy them. If you like detective mysteries, recurring characters you get to know and care deeply about over time, and following the clues without graphic violence or sex, the Q.C. Davis series is for you.
How much of the Chicago setting is drawn from real neighborhoods and landmarks, and which locations might readers recognize?
The neighborhoods, streets, and landmarks are real, though sometimes the names change. As do locations as the city evolves. For instance, four buildings now stand in the vast field across from the River City apartment complex featured in The Charming Man. (But you can still visit that apartment complex.) And you can check out the courtrooms in the Richard J. Daley Center and the Picasso sculpture in its plaza, and take a yellow Water Taxi down the Chicago River to RPM Seafood. Or visit Four Seasons, the mosaic wall by Marc Chagall in the heart of downtown. Quille’s favorite tapas restaurants, Café Ba-Ba-Reeba! and Tapas Valencia, are real and still serve wonderful food. The Albert, a setting in The Skeptical Man, is also worth a visit to see all the books and Albert Einstein memorabilia firsthand.
There’s mention of Quille’s sister’s cold-case murder—does that personal mystery thread through the whole series or wrap up early on?
Quille investigates the murder of the original Q.C. Davis, whose death essentially destroyed Quille’s childhood, particularly her relationship with her mother, in the sixth book in the series, The Forgotten Man. But even after that, the murder and fallout of the investigation still impact Quille’s life and her relationships with her family members.
What’s the story behind the “Man” naming pattern—The Worried Man, The Charming Man, and so on—and will every future book follow it?
When I started the series, suspense and thriller novels with Girl in the title were flooding the market. Many were gripping and well-written, but Girl grated on me. I’m sure it’s because when I entered the workplace, women from twenty to seventy in all types of jobs (including criminal prosecutors), were being called girls while men who did those jobs were called, well, men. So I couldn’t quite bring myself to use Girl when titling the books.
I wanted to veer away, too, from another common trope—stories of women being victimized, often by a stranger. Again, many of those types of books are good reads. But I wanted to write books where it wasn’t a given that the person who was murdered was female and where the crimes were based in personal relationships, which is more often the case in real life. While using Man in the title doesn’t necessarily signal all of that, I hope it suggests these aren’t books about women in peril.
I do plan to follow the naming pattern in all future novels. (Q.C. Davis short stories and novellas do not use Man in the title.)
If I’m a fan of Sara Paretsky, Jonathan Kellerman, or Louise Penny, what will I find familiar—and fresh—in the Q.C. Davis books?
Like Sara Paretsky’s and Jonathan Kellerman’s books, the Q.C. Davis novels are narrated by the person investigating crimes—here Quille C. Davis. Like Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware, though, Quille is a professional in another field who gets drawn into solving crime. Like Delaware, she is good at it partly because she connects well and empathizes with others and has experience analyzing facts and relationships. Like Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski, Quille is a woman dealing with what are still largely men’s worlds. Quille has a kinder, gentler approach than V.I., but she is just as dedicated to fighting for those who need it and seeing justice done. Also, Quille’s friends are much more supportive than V.I.’s and they actively help Quille solve the murders she investigates. And, as in Sara Paretsky’s books, most of the books are grounded in the city of Chicago, which is almost a character in the series.
The way Louise Penny writes about the community of Three Pines inspired me to create a group of friends and allies around Quille. Though Chicago is a large city, Quille lives and works in Printers Row, a small neighborhood that serves as her home base, much like Three Pines. Her best friend lives in the same condo building as Quille. Quille is friends with the owners of the café in the building where she works—a café with lots of books, a fireplace, and plenty of dark hot chocolate. If you enjoy the camaraderie of the friends in Three Pines, wish you could visit Olivier and Gabri’s café and bed and breakfast, and like a strong sense of place as a backdrop for crime novels and mysteries, the Q.C. Davis series is for you.
Will Quille stay rooted in Chicago, or will later books take her to other intriguing spots?
The books will keep being mainly based in Chicago, highlighting what’s fascinating, fun, and intriguing about the city. But Quille’s investigations take her other places. In The Fractured Man, Quille tracks down witnesses in New York (and has a good steak dinner at New York institution Peter Lugar). In The Forgotten Man, she spends a lot of time in downstate and central Illinois as she investigates the murder of her sister, the original Quille C. Davis, which has haunted her family for years. And the plot of The Skeptical Man takes Quille to Europe, where she flies mega first class, stays at a luxury hotel and eats caviar. Future adventures will take her to other locales in and out of the United States[SL1] .
Why do the books often include (real) restaurants as settings?
When I started the Q.C. Davis crime novels I wasn’t thinking about restaurants. But they quickly became a key part of the books. Sleuths need to interview a lot of people. Scenes with just questions and answers start to feel repetitive. One way to vary those types of scenes is to set them in places readers might enjoy visiting or to feature food or drinks they want to try. Plus I enjoy dining out. It’s fun to share that part of Chicago life on the page. Many readers tell me they can’t wait to see where Quille eats when the next book comes out.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About The Q.C. Davis Mysteries
Do I have to read the Q.C. Davis books in order, or can I pick up any title and dive right in?
You can read the books in any order. No later book spoils the mystery in any earlier one. Some readers like reading in order so they can follow the recurring characters’ lives as they unfold. But others enjoy jumping into the series in the middle and then going back to learn more about Quille and her friends and allies.
Who is Quille C. Davis, and how does her work as a Chicago lawyer—and her surprising stage-acting past—shape the way she investigates murders?
As a child and teenager, Quille worked as a stage actress. She changed her focus in college because she enjoyed the business courses she took and because she saw many very talented friends become frustrated with the ups and downs of the acting profession. Quille’s acting experience helps her choose how to look and what parts of her life to draw on to connect with witnesses to crimes and get them talking. Quille became a lawyer a bit later in life. That work helped her become expert at analyzing facts objectively, sizing up witnesses, and persuading people to cooperate with her. These skills, too, aid her in figuring out who committed a crime and how.
Are these mysteries gritty and graphic, or are they more psychological page-turners that skip explicit violence and sex?
Other than minor run-ins, the violence all occurs “off-screen.” There are no sex scenes, though romances and relationships are key to some storylines. For those reasons, while the novels are darker in tone than cozies, many cozy readers still enjoy them. If you like detective mysteries, recurring characters you get to know and care deeply about over time, and following the clues without graphic violence or sex, the Q.C. Davis series is for you.
How much of the Chicago setting is drawn from real neighborhoods and landmarks, and which locations might readers recognize?
The neighborhoods, streets, and landmarks are real, though sometimes the names change. As do locations as the city evolves. For instance, four buildings now stand in the vast field across from the River City apartment complex featured in The Charming Man. (But you can still visit that apartment complex.) And you can check out the courtrooms in the Richard J. Daley Center and the Picasso sculpture in its plaza, and take a yellow Water Taxi down the Chicago River to RPM Seafood. Or visit Four Seasons, the mosaic wall by Marc Chagall in the heart of downtown. Quille’s favorite tapas restaurants, Café Ba-Ba-Reeba! and Tapas Valencia, are real and still serve wonderful food. The Albert, a setting in The Skeptical Man, is also worth a visit to see all the books and Albert Einstein memorabilia firsthand.
There’s mention of Quille’s sister’s cold-case murder—does that personal mystery thread through the whole series or wrap up early on?
Quille investigates the murder of the original Q.C. Davis, whose death essentially destroyed Quille’s childhood, particularly her relationship with her mother, in the sixth book in the series, The Forgotten Man. But even after that, the murder and fallout of the investigation still impact Quille’s life and her relationships with her family members.
What’s the story behind the “Man” naming pattern—The Worried Man, The Charming Man, and so on—and will every future book follow it?
When I started the series, suspense and thriller novels with Girl in the title were flooding the market. Many were gripping and well-written, but Girl grated on me. I’m sure it’s because when I entered the workplace, women from twenty to seventy in all types of jobs (including criminal prosecutors), were being called girls while men who did those jobs were called, well, men. So I couldn’t quite bring myself to use Girl when titling the books.
I wanted to veer away, too, from another common trope—stories of women being victimized, often by a stranger. Again, many of those types of books are good reads. But I wanted to write books where it wasn’t a given that the person who was murdered was female and where the crimes were based in personal relationships, which is more often the case in real life. While using Man in the title doesn’t necessarily signal all of that, I hope it suggests these aren’t books about women in peril.
I do plan to follow the naming pattern in all future novels. (Q.C. Davis short stories and novellas do not use Man in the title.)
If I’m a fan of Sara Paretsky, Jonathan Kellerman, or Louise Penny, what will I find familiar—and fresh—in the Q.C. Davis books?
Like Sara Paretsky’s and Jonathan Kellerman’s books, the Q.C. Davis novels are narrated by the person investigating crimes—here Quille C. Davis. Like Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware, though, Quille is a professional in another field who gets drawn into solving crime. Like Delaware, she is good at it partly because she connects well and empathizes with others and has experience analyzing facts and relationships. Like Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski, Quille is a woman dealing with what are still largely men’s worlds. Quille has a kinder, gentler approach than V.I., but she is just as dedicated to fighting for those who need it and seeing justice done. Also, Quille’s friends are much more supportive than V.I.’s and they actively help Quille solve the murders she investigates. And, as in Sara Paretsky’s books, most of the books are grounded in the city of Chicago, which is almost a character in the series.
The way Louise Penny writes about the community of Three Pines inspired me to create a group of friends and allies around Quille. Though Chicago is a large city, Quille lives and works in Printers Row, a small neighborhood that serves as her home base, much like Three Pines. Her best friend lives in the same condo building as Quille. Quille is friends with the owners of the café in the building where she works—a café with lots of books, a fireplace, and plenty of dark hot chocolate. If you enjoy the camaraderie of the friends in Three Pines, wish you could visit Olivier and Gabri’s café and bed and breakfast, and like a strong sense of place as a backdrop for crime novels and mysteries, the Q.C. Davis series is for you.
Will Quille stay rooted in Chicago, or will later books take her to other intriguing spots?
The books will keep being mainly based in Chicago, highlighting what’s fascinating, fun, and intriguing about the city. But Quille’s investigations take her other places. In The Fractured Man, Quille tracks down witnesses in New York (and has a good steak dinner at New York institution Peter Lugar). In The Forgotten Man, she spends a lot of time in downstate and central Illinois as she investigates the murder of her sister, the original Quille C. Davis, which has haunted her family for years. And the plot of The Skeptical Man takes Quille to Europe, where she flies mega first class, stays at a luxury hotel and eats caviar. Future adventures will take her to other locales in and out of the United States[SL1] .
Why do the books often include (real) restaurants as settings?
When I started the Q.C. Davis crime novels I wasn’t thinking about restaurants. But they quickly became a key part of the books. Sleuths need to interview a lot of people. Scenes with just questions and answers start to feel repetitive. One way to vary those types of scenes is to set them in places readers might enjoy visiting or to feature food or drinks they want to try. Plus I enjoy dining out. It’s fun to share that part of Chicago life on the page. Many readers tell me they can’t wait to see where Quille eats when the next book comes out.
