A reluctant private eye, Shakespear is ambivalent about violence and relies on his wits, instead of his fists, to solve this true-to-life, art-theft caper that has eluded police and private investigators for years. The illustrious Butler Museum of Art robbed of its near-priceless Dutch masterworks, its ambitious museum director found murdered in her office.

Following a trail leading from Boston, Massachusetts to Barcelona, Spain, then back to his beachside community of Santa Cruz, California, Shakespear tracks an international art theft ring and solves the violent murder. Along the way, Tommy Shakespear comes face to face with his unresolved past and uncertain future, his personal life becomes entangled with the mystery he is trying to solve, and he becomes a leading suspect in the crime. Finally, with the help of "Yards" Maloy, an ex-con in Boston, and his close woman friend, Shiva, he breaks through to the startling truth that brings the unsolved mystery crashing down around him.

The buzz on Dutch Reckoning:

"Art theft, forged masterpieces, intrigue and intriguing people -- West's prose moves like a cannonball, and Tommy Shakespear is a funny, likeable, clever new sleuth, a guy with charm and chutzpah."

-- Shelley Singer, author ofInterview with Mattie.

"With [Dutch Reckoning], I believe Michael West has joined the cutting edge of the new breed of male mystery writers. Tommy Shakespear is a truly unique, different kind of character in crime fiction. He brings a ninties sensibility to a forties underlying toughness, and in Tommy Shakespear, Michael West has found a compelling, sharp, wonderful new voice. This is just the beginning for Tommy Shakespear and for Michael West. I think they'll both be around for a long time."

-- Steven Womack, Edgar Award winning author of Dead Folks Blues.