Author of Mystery and Suspense Novels

Books                

IMBA Bestseller
THE CRAFTY TEDDY
Bear Collector's Mystery #3
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Peaceful Massanutten County is becoming a little hazardous. First, someone takes a shot at Brad and barely misses. Then three Yakuza roll into town and, shortly thereafter, the director of the local history museum turns up murdered. The investigation is going nowhere fast, until Ash notices something unusual about the antique teddy bears on display in the museum...

Coming in November 2007 from Berkley Prime Crime

Read an Excerpt from The Crafty Teddy

“A page-turner.  An original and refreshing change in the overcrowded amateur-sleuth genre.”  (Rated Four Stars)
  -- Romantic Times Magazine

“Skips along with plenty of humor, interesting and unusual characters, and quick-paced action.”
  -- Fredericksburg (VA) Free Lance-Star

“A richly detailed and intricately plotted tale.”
  -- Teddy Bear & Friends Magazine

“We’ve been wondering why mystery booksellers keep singling out this series…from the plethora of craft based mysteries being published today, and now we understand.”
  -- IMBA “Killer Books” Website

“John J. Lamb owes me a night’s sleep.  Be warned that if you pick this book up, you won’t put it down until you’ve finished reading it.”
  -- Armchair Interviews

“A delightful and engaging series.”
  -- Reviewing the Evidence

"Not just for teddy bear lovers.  Enjoyable, with the just the right blend of humor and suspense."
  -- Mystery Morgue

"A truly first rate mystery led by captivating characters…which will compel readers to devour it one sitting!"
  -- The Romance Readers Connection            

THE CLOCKWORK TEDDY
Bear Collector’s Mystery #4

Sometimes you shouldn’t go home again.  Brad and Ash have returned to San Francisco for the first time since moving to the Shenandoah Valley and their visit has suddenly turned ugly.  While attending a teddy bear show, they witness a robbery and then have a menacing encounter with an ex-SFPD cop with an ax to grind against Brad.  That night, a man is murdered at a seedy motel and Brad’s former partner doesn’t quite know what to make of the unique teddy bear left at the scene.  Although they’re on vacation, Brad and Ash offer to share their fur-ensic expertise…especially since it will give them the opportunity to work with their daughter, Heather Lyon, an undercover detective on the force.

Coming on October 1, 2008 from Berkley Prime Crime

Read an Excerpt from The Clockwork Teddy

IMBA Bestseller
THE FALSE-HEARTED TEDDY
Bear Collector's Mystery #2
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After a winter spent making stuffed animals, retired S.F.P.D. homicide inspector Brad Lyon and his wife, Ashleigh, exhibit their mohair menagerie at a major teddy bear show in a hotel in Baltimore's harbor district. However, this fur fest is unlike any they've ever attended. Hidden behind the throngs of happy faces and cute teddy bears is a simmering and potentially lethal brew of violence, betrayal, obsessive love, and blackmail. A beloved teddy bear artist is murdered and the evidence points to Brad as the killer. Brad and Ash must unravel a series of mysteries while coping with the Baltimore Police, the thuggish husband of the murder victim, and an amorous bear aficionado who's objective is to make Brad her newest romantic conquest.

Available in June 2007 from Berkley Prime Crime

"With a quick-moving plot that’s neither too cozy nor too hard-boiled, a likable sleuth and an original premise, Lamb has another honey of a mystery."
     -- Richmond Times-Dispatch

"I finished [it] in one lazy afternoon because I couldn’t put it down."
     -- Cozy Library                             

Read an Excerpt from The False-Hearted Teddy


IMBA Bestseller and 2006 “Dilys” Award Finalist
THE MOURNFUL TEDDY
Bear Collector's Mystery #1 When San Francisco PD Homicide Inspector Bradley Lyon was wounded in a gun battle and forced to retire, he and his wife, Ashleigh moved to her childhood home in a tiny rural community in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Now the couple works together making artisan teddy bears and adding to their enormous collection of stuffed animals. Their lives are peaceful and happy until Brad finds a murdered man floating in the river. When the sheriff refuses to investigate the killing, Brad and Ash begin their own inquiry and learn the dead man is connected to the theft of a rare and extremely valuable teddy bear produced to commemorate the sinking of the Titanic. The Mournful Teddy is the first in a series featuring Brad and Ash Lyon.

Available in August 2006 from Berkley Prime Crime

“A smart debut.”
     -- Mystery Scene Magazine
     
Read an Excerpt from The Mournful Teddy 

ECHOES OF THE LOST ORDER
A famous document dictated by General Robert E. Lee is stolen from the Library of Congress and six months later, an unidentified woman dressed in a Confederate uniform is found murdered on a Civil War reenactment battlefield in Talmine, a small Virginia Tidewater town.The events seem unconnected until Talmine's Chief of Police, Steve MacKinnon, and his wife, Victoria, a former police crime analyst, begin to investigate. However, in order to discover the truth behind the killing, Steve and Victoria must place themselves in the line of fire.

Available in November 2005 from Five Star PublicationsOrder From Amazon

"Former homicide detective John Lamb launches his debut novel with an intriguing concept-a Civil War reenactor shot to death during a mock battle-and follows it through with masterful skill. Echoes of the Lost Order is a compelling mystery by a dazzling new talent. John Lamb is one of the strongest new voices in the genre."
     -- P.B. Ryan, author of the Gilded Age mystery series

"Outstanding debut suspense story…An engaging central character, plenty of action, and a sound plot. Lamb will have to go some to top this first effort!"
     -- Robert Walch, I Love a Mystery Newsletter.

Read an Excerpt from Echoes of the Lost Order

SAN DIEGO SPECTERS is a compendium of local history and investigations into Southern California haunted sites-some celebrated and others more obscure. Although John believes in ghosts, he doesn't believe all ghost stories and isn't reluctant to debunk a haunting when the evidence is lacking. The book has been praised as one of the most intelligent and readable volumes about ghost phenomena written in recent years. "John Lamb's book about San Diego ghosts is the sort of ghost book you just could not put down." -- Professor Dr. Hans Holzer, author of Ghosts and Hans Holzer's Travel Guide to Haunted Houses "…a must read for anyone interested in the study of the phenomena of ghosts." -- Richard L. Senate, author of Ghost Stalker's Guide to Haunted California

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Also available in Southern California bookshops.

Read an excerpt from San Diego Specters