Lucky Stiff

The Tony Mandolin Mysteries book 5

By: Robert Lee Beers

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

A cursed luck coin flips San Francisco's supernatural underworld from rigged games to rigged graves—and Tony Mandolin's the only one sober enough to chase it.

When a frustrated scientist turns up at Tony's office seeking his lost experiment, an artifact that bends probability like a cheap horseshoe, turning long shots into sure things and sure things into body bags, Tony wonders where he went wrong. When a corpse in the city morgue sits up and begins talking to the ME, Tony figures he needs some help finding this lucky coin.

Now every cartel from the Triads to the Russian syndicates is hunting it. With the help of Landau Bain, Tony is searching the city's hidden casinos with fae enforcers, goblin dealers, and a banshee croupier who screams before you lose. The coin's trail leads Tony through smoke-filled poker dens where souls are the ante, underground baccarat tables guarded by pooka shapeshifters, and a high-stakes poker game where the buy-in is your life.

Worse: the coin's curse is spreading. One touch, and your luck turns toxic—horseshoes crack underfoot, black cats cross your path in packs, and that "sure bet" leaves you stiff as the stiff who started it all. With time running out, Tony and Bain have to find the coin before its version of luck brings reality crashing down around everyone's ears.

Old-school gumshoe. Cursed-school fortune. Zero apps, all bad omens.

Lucky Stiff is Book 5 of the Tony Mandolin Mysteries—where Lady Luck packs a shillelagh and the house edge is sharper than a leprechaun's grin.

Perfect for fans of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, Seanan McGuire's fae-flavored chaos, and anyone who bets on noir with a twist of the supernatural.

Kindle Unlimited
Best read after Books 1-4, but flips in seamlessly if you like your mysteries minted in mischief and murder.

Meh

Lot of weird racism and stereotypes of Black people. Maybe this is why these aren’t widely available.