About
William Baer’s fiction has been awarded a Creative Writing Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is the author of two collections of short stories: Times Square and Other Stories and One-and-Twenty Tales. His short stories have been published in numerous literary journals and magazines, including The Iowa Review, Kansas Quarterly, Mississippi Valley Review, and The Dalhousie Review.
Advocatus Diaboli – A Novel (The Catholic Themes, Book One) (Many Words Press)
Many Words Press—an imprint of Able Muse Press—is proud to introduce Advocatus Diaboli of the Catholic Themes, initiating a new series by the author of the popular Jack Colt mystery series:
Advocatus Diaboli is the story of a murder mystery caught up in a canonization cause. International in scope, it unravels though Washington, DC, Rome, the Vatican, Ireland, and elsewhere. It interrogates the making and makeup of a Modern-day saint, juxtaposed to forces for good or ill working to upend or uphold the cause, in the backdrop of the day-to-day failings or goodness of its cast of characters and hagiographies of related saints of the past. Advocatus Diaboli is spellbinding as the best mystery novels and spiritually fulfilling in ways few of them could hope to, or even, care to achieve.
Baer’s Catholic experience is extensive in time and scope: he is the founding director of the St. Robert Southwell Summer Workshops and the author of Psalter: A Sequence of Catholic Sonnets, among several other endeavors and achievements.
From the opening pages of William Baer’s Advocatus Diaboli straight through to its moving conclusion, the reader is irrevocably hooked. This is a brave novel and a brave novelist, unafraid to address the unfashionable questions of faith and doubt, to posit the possibility (though never the certainty) of an immanent divinity at work in the lives of ordinary men and women, the human need for grace, and the power of redemptive suffering to save us from ourselves and each other. Baer writes in the tradition of Graham Greene, Walker Percy, Andre Dubus, and Ron Hansen, among others—Catholic fiction writers each of whom says “No! in thunder” to both the nihilism and easy belief of his era. Compelling and credible, Baer has given us that rare gift—a clear-eyed, intelligent, religious novel that eschews the pieties of doubters and unthinking believers alike.
— Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, author of Andalusian Hours: Poems
Murder in Times Square – A Novel (A Deirdre Mystery, Book One) (Able Muse Press)
Many Words Press—and imprint of Able Muse Press—is proud to introduce Murder in Times Square, a Deirdre Mystery, initiating a new series by the author of the popular Jack Colt mystery series:
When a young woman in a red designer dress falls twenty-five stories from the roof of Times Square One, the well-known New York fashion model known as Deirdre resolves to unravel the mystery. Capable and determined, Deirdre is relentless in her drive to unravel the mystery and find justice for the victim, while protecting those she loves from looming threats.
Baer, who has worked in the New York City’s fashion district, showcases not only his depth of knowledge of the fashion industry, but also of New York City and its landmarks and history. He weaves an intricate, fast-paced, and spellbinding narrative that takes us through New York City, Atlantic City, the Jersey Shore, and the Caribbean. In Murder in Times Square, Baer once again proves he is a master of suspense and intrigue.
“Writing is crisp, sarcastic, and wryly funny. . . . Characters are authentic and realistic. Dialogue is brisk and to the point.”— Robin Farrell Edmunds, Forward Reviews (Five-star review)
New Jersey Noir: Barnegat Light (Able Muse Press)
After Jack Colt is hired by a pretty FBI agent to solve a horrific murder case in Barnegat Light, he finds himself called upon by the daughter of a distinguished judge to another murder scene. Although Colt remembers that his uncle once warned him that “Only an idiot takes two cases at the same time,” he nonetheless takes up the challenge. Along the way, there is yet another case involving the family of the powerful state governor, which he turns down, and yet cannot resist casually working on in the background. The result is fast-paced, suspenseful action that propels Colt through the Garden State, New York City, and all the way to California and Arizona. William Baer has outdone himself with this can’t-put-down third installment of his critically acclaimed Jack Colt Murder Mystery Novels.
“William Baer brilliantly mixes all the human emotions. . . . The layers, the depth, the characters, the intrigue, and the references to local settings all captivate and draw the reader in. I love books like this! A rarity! Five stars!” — Robert Leon Davis, Reader Views (Five-star review)
New Jersey Noir: Cape May (Able Muse Press)
After solving the assassination case of his beloved uncle, Colt finds himself truly alone, ditched by his girlfriend. However, there’s not much respite or time for introspection for him: he’s called on again to solve a new murder case, along with a suspiciously related cold case. What follows is another gripping tale in the backdrop of the Garden State’s sights and scenes, including its picturesque beaches, casinos, and the rural Pine Barrens. In New Jersey Noir: Cape May—Book Two of his Jack Colt Murder Mystery Novels series—William Baer continues to enchant and spellbind.
“In Jack Colt, William Baer gives us a private detective perfectly suited for the Garden State: gritty, charming in spite of himself, sidesplittingly hilarious and incomparably authentic. Baer proves himself the Sinatra of Noir, the Edison of Intrigue, the Springsteen of Suspense—and a rightful heir to Hammett and Chandler. Far more fun than a night out in Atlantic City or a weekend at the Jersey Shore.” — Jacob M. Appel, author of Millard Salter’s Last Day
New Jersey Noir (Able Muse Press)
“An accomplished poet, playwright, and short-story writer, William Baer has turned to crime, creating a brilliant debut novel, the hard-boiled whodunit New Jersey Noir. ” – Hollis Seamon
“Not since Donna Tartt’s The Secret History have I read a novel as mesmerizing, engrossing, and delectable as William Baer’s New Jersey Noir.” – Terri Brown-Davidson
“Jack Colt, the private investigator in William Baer’s New Jersey Noir, romances the genre to the suspenseful effect that JJ “Jake” Gittes achieves in Roman Polanski’s acclaimed Chinatown.” – Dennis Must
William Baer 
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