Retired EPD Detective Turned Author Announces Book Launch for #9 in the Det. Jack Murphy Thriller Series
Local author, Rick Reed, will be releasing a new novel in the Detective Jack Murphy thriller series this coming February 2020. This will be #9 in the series of Evansville Police investigative thrillers. He is an author for Kensington Books in Manhattan, NY.
Retired Detective Sergeant Rick Reed is a 26-plus year law enforcement officer, detective, including a stint in Internal Affairs and a published author of a true-crime book. He is a decorated officer receiving merit awards, commendations and was awarded “Officer of the Year†by Evansville Kiwanis. He has received commendation letters from the FBI and was selected to become a handwriting expert by attending Questioned Document training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia and Advanced training at the University of Houston in Texas. He testified as an expert handwriting witness in murder cases in Vanderburgh County. He was the lead detective on several high profile cases including serial killer Joseph Weldon Brown and killer/rapist Thomas Schiro. He retired from the Evansville Police Department to become an assistant professor of Criminal Justice at Ivy Tech Community College and a full-time writer of the Detective Jack Murphy thriller series.
Rick got hooked on writing while he was a detective and published his own EPD Newsletter known as The Monkey Boy Gazette. This small newsletter was written anonymously for several years before Rick was identified by the Vice Squad as the writer/editor/publisher and culprit. The newsletter was meant to raise morale by poking fun at the officer, supervisors, mayor, judges, and anyone that fell in his sights. He is quoted as saying, “It was fun while it lasted.â€
Rick was a detective in the Bunco-Fraud Unit of the Evansville Police Department when he began his real career as an author after Kensington Books in New York contacted him and author Steven Walker in 2004 to co-write a true crime book, BLOOD TRAIL. The book described the killing of Evansville resident, Ginger Gasaway in 2000. She was murdered and dismembered by Joseph Weldon Brown from Posey County after he discovered she was going to return to her estranged husband. Brown pleaded guilty and confessed to thirteen other murders between his release from prison in 1995 and 2000. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 2001. In 2011 Brown strangled his cellmate and received an additional life without the possibility of parole sentence.
In 2004 Rick completed a Master’s Degree in Public Administration at the University of Evansville. He was promoted to Sergeant and worked in Internal Affairs until he retired in 2006 after 20 plus years of service. He was immediately hired by Ivy Tech Community College as a full-time instructor in the Criminal Justice Program. In 2008 he was again contacted by Kensington Books and given a two-book contract to write a serial-killer fiction series that would come to be known as the Detective Jack Murphy thriller series. Between 2009 and 2019
Kensington published nine of the Jack Murphy thrillers. The 9th is titled THE FIERCEST ENEMY. It will be released on February 11, 2020.
While writing these novels Rick returned to school and earned a second Master’s Degree. This one in Criminal Justice. He began as an adjunct professor at Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee. He currently teaches online classes, is starting a brand new series of thrillers for Kensington and writing books for his granddaughters.
Rick joined the Army in 1971 and attended Intelligence Analyst training in Arizona, then Korean Language training for a year in California before being assigned to a Psychological Warfare unit in Okinawa, Japan. He was honorably discharged in 1974 and returned to Evansville. He began working for a Circuit Court judge as an investigator. His goal was to become an Evansville policeman like his two older brothers.
In 1980 he was hired by the Vanderburgh County Sheriff Department as a Deputy Sheriff and worked for them until 1986 when he was finally hired by the Evansville Police Department. His dream was to become a detective and he was promoted to detective in 1987 and worked in various units including Bunco-Fraud, or White Collar Crime. While working in Bunco-Fraud he worked several murder cases that involved fraud schemes and captured serial killer, Joseph Weldon Brown as the result of a bad check investigation.
Rick gets his story ideas and characters from real-life investigations. A character may be a combination of many people plus Rick’s own spin. Likewise, the story may be a mixture of real events and imagination. The stories are set in Evansville, Indiana and as the series grew, Jack’s jurisdiction expanded. The most recent book, THE FIERCEST ENEMY, takes place in Dugger and Linton, Indiana.
He has assisted the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on many felony trials. He has assisted the FBI and Secret Service with investigations. He has worked in cold cases. And he has taught Criminal Justice and Law. With this well-rounded experience, his characters take on a life of their own.
Rick is available to speak or give presentations on several topics including criminal cases, crimes, and writing. He is available to speak to book clubs or any organization interested in having an expert to talk and answer questions.
In late February or early March 2020, Rick plans on a book launch/tour through Indiana where he will meet fans and sign books. The tour is in the early stages of planning but you can check:
Rick’s website www.rickreedbooks.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pipereed Email: rreedbooks@gmail.com
Here are links to Rick’s books:
Amazon: Jack Murphy books in order.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rick+reed+jack+murphy+in+order&i=digital- text&crid=25MNI79MIP49E&sprefix=rick+reed%2Cdigital-text%2C146&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_9
Barnes & Noble: Jack Murphy books in order.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/rick%20reed/_/N-8q8
Kensington Books: Jack Murphy books in order.
https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/25368
