Author of the
Mick Murphy Key West Mysteries
I'd like to thank and acknowledge local singer-songwriter Scott Kirby for writing the song, Free Range Institution, that gave me the idea for the title.
"A fingerstyle guitarist and singer/songwriter, Kirby's musical style weaves from pop, to acoustic rock, to what he refers to as "beach folk." His lyrics are often storytelling in nature, much in the vein of Steve Goodman or Jerry Jeff Walker, and reflect the humor of someone who fled traditional New England for the laid back and zany lifestyle of America's southernmost island town. A reviewer from The Musician's Trade Journal writes, "Kirby's a storyteller. Sometimes sentimental, sometimes hilarious, but all with insight, depth and wisdom - you can't help but like this guy's music." Frank Quatrone, of Ticket Magazine, writes, "His writing can be engagingly literate to elegantly simple - the whole place was laughing and singing along to his sometimes outrageous lyrics."
Haskins's second Mick Murphy Key West mystery (after 2008's Chasin' the Wind) offers more gunfights than developed characters. On their way to a romantic lunch, journalist Murphy and his sometime girlfriend, attorney Tita Toledo, see Murphy's waterfront friend, Jay Bruehl, fall to his death from the roof of six-story Hotel Key West. Written 2012
When Mick Murphy stops at night on U.S. 1 to assist a teenage girl in distress, his world begins to unravel. Chased by thugs, the girl is traumatized and can’t speak to Murphy. Once at home, his live-in Irish girlfriend Peggy Naughton helps communicate with the teenager. Written 2016
After two suspicious deaths in Key West, Mick Murphy gets caught up in a conspiracy theorist dream. Corrupt Florida politicians, all the way to the governor, land developers and banks are ready to develop the pristine Keys, including Murphy's beloved Key West. Written 2015
A pregnant woman friend of Mick Murphy's is beaten to death. As she lay dying Murphy promises to make the killer face justice. His pursuit takes him and his mismatched eclectic friends to the Ocala National Forest looking for a meth lab run by outlaw bikers. Written 2015
A simple request of Mick Murphy to find his cousin Cecil Fahey turns into a struggle of avoiding irate SAS soldiers determined to kill Cecil for his IRA activities in the '80s. Written 2014
When journalist Mick Murphy runs into his love fantasy in a wintry Harvard Yard, he is soon dragged into a web of brutal killings that began in Boston and end in Southern California. Written 2011
When I first came to Tijuana, Mexico, more than 20 years ago, it was a sleepy border town, minutes from San Diego, California, where liquor was cheap and women plentiful. Written 2011
"Chasin' the Wind" nails the colorful and often violent action in both Key West, Florida, and Havana, Cuba. It navigates corruption and small town politics in the southernmost city of the United States. Written 2009
I have been following for more than a year the Los Angeles Times' great series, Crisis in Mexico that deals with the awful drug war going on south of our borders. Written 2013
When Mick Murphy discovers the body of a Cold War female assassin he is draw into a drama that includes a hit man for Boston gangster Whitey Bulger and some semi-retired Cold War agents in search of $20 million in diamonds taken by a rogue agent. Written 2011
Because of the destructive ending of Stairway to the Bottom, this sequel begins with Norm telling the story. If you haven't read the earlier book, you should before reading the sequel. Mick Murphy begins telling the story in the book's second part, when the crew returns to Key West. Written 2013
Finding Picasso, Murder in Key West, The Floater, Drumstick Murder and Shamus Award Nominee ... Vampire Slayer Murdered in Key West