A circus-performer-turned-PI who’s also “the most engaging criminologist to appear in decades” must save his brother from a cult and a terrorist plot ( Booklist ).

With a genius IQ, a past career as a circus acrobat, and a black belt in karate, criminology professor Dr. Robert Frederickson—better known as “Mongo the Magnificent”—has a decidedly unusual background for a private investigator. He also just so happens to be a dwarf.

After a series of traumas and an accidental poisoning, Mongo’s brother, Garth Fredrickson, is lying unresponsive in an off-limits government psychiatric facility. But that won’t stop New York City’s most resourceful private eye—because if there’s one person in the world Mongo would do anything for, it’s Garth.

With a little unorthodox therapy, Mongo manages to bring his brother back to the real world. But it quickly becomes clear that Garth isn’t himself. Soon the siblings are estranged, and Garth ends up in the center of a cult—an unsuspecting pawn in an international terrorist plot. Up against thousands of believers willing to do anything to protect their “new Messiah,” Mongo will risk his life to save him . . .

The Cold Smell of Sacred Stone is the 6th book in the Mongo Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Review

“Chesbro’s sixth Mongo mystery is a study in craftsmanship to be read in one sitting.” — Tulsa World

“Chesbro still has his gift for storytelling and his love of the bizarre.” — The Drood Review of Mystery

Praise for the Mongo Mysteries
“Murder and international intrigue . . . Well done, suspenseful, highly recommended.” — Newsday

“One of the best detective novels of the year . . . It has everything!” — The New York Times Book Review on Shadow of a Broken Man

“Chesbro writes wonderfully strange mystery novels . . . [with] perfectly calculated nail-biting tension.” — Boston Sunday Herald

“One of the most appealing creations in the detective world.” — Publishers Weekly

“Raymond Chandler meets Stephen King by way of Alice’s looking glass.” — Playboy

“The most engaging detective in decades.” — Library Journal

“Chesbro’s wild roller-coaster rides mix detection with science fiction and fantasy but keep a center of humanity and rationality in the amazing Mongo.” — Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine

“Every now and again a writer comes along who can use the conventions of the genre and the language of popular fiction to fashion a novel that careens ahead with the speed and promise of danger of the Indy 500. . . . This is what George C. Chesbro does.” — The Washington Post Book World

About the Author

George C. Chesbro (1940–2008) was the author of twenty-eight books, including the renowned Mongo Mysteries, starring private eye Dr. Robert Frederickson, aka Mongo the Magnificent. He also wrote the Chant Mysteries and the Veil Kendry series, both featuring characters from the Mongo universe, as well as a few standalone novels.

From Publishers Weekly

Readers who enjoyed the first adventures (Shadow of a Broken Man, City of Whispering Stone) of professor Robert "Mongo" FredericksonPh.D. criminologist, ex-circus stuntman, dwarf and private eyemay be less than enchanted here. In a decade, Chesbro's style has changed from crisp and medium-boiled to garish, and his plot is replete with talky comic-book stunts. Mongo's brother Garth, in a comatose state because of a rare drug injected by mad scientist Siegmund Loge, seems to make a dramatic recovery in a top-secret government sanatorium. But Garth soon attracts a following that is convinced he's the Messiah. When Mongo is attacked by mysterious forces, Garth escapes with a homicidal maniac and surfaces in New York, heading a cult m that cares for the needy in an abandoned bathhouse. Determined to bring Garth back to reality, Mongo investigates the movement. A violent climax occurs on Christmas Eve, when all are threatened by murderous KGB agents. Only Chesbro's smooth writing saves this from total inanity, but the talkabout love, mankind and other heavy subjectsseems endless.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.