Showing results by author "Neil S. Plakcy" in All Categories

When the Cuisine Network brings its brand-new reality show, Dog’s Kitchen , to the peaceful Friar Lake Conference Center, Steve Levitan expects chaos—but not sabotage. Celebrity chefs, foodie influencers, and gourmet-loving dogs descend on the property, turning Steve’s summer into a whirlwind of barking, baking, and behind-the-scenes drama. His golden retriever, Rochester , just wants to stay close to the food.

It's almost time for graduation, and Eastern College is in trouble. A prominent alumna is dead, and a faulty computer program is jeopardizing student records and financial aid. It's up to Steve and Rochester to dig into the situation and retrieve the culprits! Rita Gaines wasn't a nice person-but she did love her dogs, and most of her clients respected her financial acumen and her talent in training dogs for agility trials.

After twenty-five years together, Jeffrey and Ray's marriage is crumbling. Ray's affair has shattered their trust, and both men are questioning whether their relationship is worth saving. In a desperate attempt to reconnect—or find closure—they apply for The Big Race, a reality TV competition that sends couples racing around the world for a million-dollar prize.

Forty-two-year-old Steve Levitan has lost everything that matters to him: his marriage, his home, and his career. After finishing a brief prison term for computer hacking, he returns to his home town of Stewart's Crossing, PA, with his tail between his legs. With his parole officer peering over his shoulder, Steve begins a technical writing business and takes a part-time job as an adjunct professor of English at his alma mater Eastern College.

When his mentor, Joe Dagorian, director of admissions at prestigious Eastern College, is murdered during a fundraising event, Steve Levitan feels obliged to investigate. He and his golden retriever, Rochester, go nose to the ground to dig up clues, including a bloody knife and some curious photographs. But will Steve’s curiosity and Rochester’s savvy save them when the killer comes calling? A cozy mystery for dog lovers!

At a quiet Brooklyn café watched over by painted dogs and warmed by just the ‎right cup of coffee, two teenagers arrive —lost, hurting, and unsure where to turn next.‎In this deeply compassionate third entry in the Smiling Dog Café series —fully ‎enjoyable as a standalone —author Neil S. Plakcy shares two powerful novellas about grief, ‎resilience, and the unexpected ways we find our way home.‎In Grounds for Hope, Miguel is alone on the streets after his father is deported ‎back to their violence-plagued homeland.

In "The Bridge Between Us," the mysterious Smiling Dog Café brings estranged ‎siblings Barry and Leah Goldstein together after fifteen years apart. As they navigate ‎their separate griefs—Barry mourning his wife Ellen and Leah recovering from the loss of ‎her husband and unborn child—they discover that healing begins when they confront ‎their shared past.

Two gripping mysteries. One unforgettable collection. A suspicious death. A trail of secrets. And a pair of investigators—one human, one canine—who won't let the truth stay buried. In Neil S. Plakcy's "Dog Moves in Mysterious Ways," Steve Levitan and his golden retriever, Rochester, uncover a hidden online world where access is currency—and silence can be deadly.

At the edge of a quiet Brooklyn street, the Smiling Dog Café is still there—warm, ‎unhurried, and ready for those who don’t quite know where to go next.‎ Some people arrive by accident.‎ Others are led there. ‎In these two interconnected novellas, lives in motion —and lives at a standstill —‎find their way to the same door.‎ Tom Whitehead once lived for speed. An Olympic medalist in luge, he ‎understood precision, control, and the perfect line. But when the competition ends, he ‎finds himself adrift —cut off from the purpose that defined him.

This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice. Silas Warner is a flighty sort of fellow, a butterfly in his attire and his jumps from one man to the next. But there’s something about boxer Ezra Curiel—first his incredible body, and then his emotional depth—that delivers a knockout punch to...

He’s covering Formula 1’s hottest rising star.‎ He never expected it to be the man who broke his heart. ‎Journalist Wally Pulaski is sent to cover Formula 1’s most exciting rising star—‎Jonathan Hirsch.‎ The same Jonathan Hirsch he lost in college—and never got over. ‎Now Jonathan is on the verge of a championship, with the world watching his ‎every move. Wally’s job is to report the truth. No bias. No exceptions.‎

When a local gallery owner is murdered, Lili is asked to identify artists who graced an event she photographed two decades ago. As shadows of the past resurface, the couple's wedding concerns pale in comparison to the enigma unfolding before them. Lili digs deep into her memories, Steve scans the dark web for details about a crime that went unpunished, and Rochester sniffs out clues to help them both bring justice.

Reformed computer hacker Steve Levitan has built a new life for himself after prison, including a home with his fiancée and his golden retriever Rochester. It matters deeply to him, enough to risk it all to bring justice to a killer in his neighborhood.

Peggy was a great friend to Steve when they were teens. Can he help her now as she faces the death penalty? As teens, semi-reformed hacker Steve Levitan admired his friend Peggy because of the way she fought back from a difficult childhood to travel to France and aspire to a college degree and a career as a lawyer.

Semi-reformed computer hacker Steve Levitan’s longtime girlfriend, Lili, is acting out of character, and he's eager to figure out why and how he can help her. But that gets delayed when he and his golden retriever, Rochester, are asked to help investigate a double homicide in a posh neighborhood of Stewart's Crossing.

Openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka is faced with a new murder that comes dangerously close to his personal life. About a year and a half has passed since the flames engulfed Waahila Ridge State Park at the end of Mahu Fire. During that time, Kimo and fire investigator Mike Riccardi dated for about six months, but with Kimo so visible and Mike in the closet, the pressures on them increased to the point where their relationship ended. When a fire breaks out at a shopping center Kimo's father used to own and a young boy is killed, they are forced to work together.

Mahu Surfer, the second book in my Mahu Investigations mystery series, sends gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka back to his surfing past. His new boss asks the former competitive surfer to go undercover on Oahu’s North Shore to find the killer of three surfers. The catch: He can't tell any of his family or friends that he has returned to the force, causing him to lie, when he has just come out of the closet and begun to tell the truth about his life. In his return to the North Shore, Kimo discovers trouble in paradise.

There’s a new dog in town--a golden retriever named Luke, in training to be a seeing-eye dog. He and Rochester immediately bond, but there’s something odd about Luke’s human, Ben Ji. How can someone so young afford an expensive townhouse on Sarajevo Way? When Ben is shot, Steve begins to discover the lies he has been telling.

Mahu Fire begins as openly gay Honolulu homicide detective Kimo Kanapa’aka attends a local charity event in support of gay marriage. When a bomb disrupts the gala, Kimo, his family, and friends are thrust into a deadly contest between good and evil. A wave of religious fundamentalism sweeps through O’ahu, at the same time as violence against gay and lesbian-owned businesses is on the rise. Coincidence? Kimo doesn’t think so. Working with hunky fire inspector Mike Riccardi, Kimo digs through the ashes to discover a motive for the attacks, as well as who is behind them.

An Alzheimer’s patient slips away from home on his own and tumbles into the Delaware River. And then Steve’s love Lili suffers the crushing loss of her mother in a Miami Beach hospital. Eckhardt Lalor left behind a fortune in real estate, a fractured family, and a bitter legacy as a city slumlord. Does that add up to murder? There’s no question of what killed Benita Weinstock — a dodgy heart — but her death rocks her daughter’s world, and Steve’s. It will be up to Rochester to solve the crime and heal his humans in this new mystery with heart — and fur.