Paul Bishop Presents... Pattern of Behavior: Ten Tales of Murder & Mayhem

In the darkest corners of the criminal mind, violence is rarely random—it's a pattern of behavior.

Patterns reveal who we are, what we fear, and how far we will go when greed, obsession, vengeance, or desperation takes control. They can lead a detective to a killer, lure an honest man into corruption, or turn an ordinary grievance into an excuse for murder.

In these ten tales of murder and mayhem, cops, private eyes, criminals, and desperate innocents confront the choices that define them—and the deadly consequences that follow.

“Pattern of Behavior” by Paul Bishop—LAPD homicide detective Fey Croaker investigates a seemingly open-and-shut rape and murder, only to discover a Hollywood tangle of ambition, deception, and jealousy.

“No Chips, No Bonus” by Ben Boulden—A disgraced former FBI agent hunting stolen casino chips learns his crooked employer has been playing a far more dangerous game.

“Dark Estate” by Richard Prosch—A tackle box found at a Nebraska estate sale reopens a forty-two-year-old serial-murder case—and points toward a chilling new generation.

“Dinosaur” by Nicholas Cain—When construction workers uncover a human skeleton among prehistoric bones, a retired cop must reckon with a deadly secret buried for forty years.

“Gentle Insanities” by Christine Matthews—A sharp-tongued private investigator searching for a kidnapped child finds her own troubled family drawing her into a carefully calculated nightmare.

“So Beautiful, So Dead” by Robert J. Randisi—Against the glittering backdrop of America’s first Atlantic City beauty pageant, a stylish 1920s private eye hunts the man who murdered a beautiful contestant.

“The Last Ride” by Brian Drake—A rookie patrolman’s chance to redeem himself becomes a harrowing pursuit when a drunken gunman abducts the woman who left him.

“Black Cherry” by Nicole Nelson-Hicks—A betrayed brother invites his corrupt former sister-in-law to one last party inside the luxury vehicle she loves more than anything.

“No Confession Required” by L.J. Martin—Disguised as a priest, a bounty hunter walks into a Mafia stronghold to collect a fugitive and a quarter-million-dollar payday.

“Split Decision” by Eric Beetner—A struggling 1950s boxer accepts money to fix a fight, only to find himself trapped between rival mobsters demanding opposite outcomes.

Enter a world where justice and revenge are separated by a razor’s edge, every decision carries a price, and the most dangerous patterns are the ones nobody recognizes until it is too late.