Zachary Goldman Mysteries Books In Order
Publication Order of Zachary Goldman Mysteries Books
She Wore Mourning | (2017) | |
She was Dying Anyway | (2018) | |
His Hands Were Quiet | (2018) | |
He was Walking Alone | (2018) | |
He Was Not There | (2019) | |
Her Work was Everything | (2019) | |
They Thought He Was Safe | (2020) | |
She Told a Lie | (2020) | |
He Never Forgot | (2021) | |
She Was at Risk | (2021) | |
He Drowned in Memory | (2022) | |
Their Walls Were Empty | (2022) | |
They Came for Him | (2022) |
The “Zachary Goldman Mystery is a series of novels by PD Workman, a thriller, young adult fiction, and cozy mystery author that is best known for writing about violence, addiction, and mental illness. For as long as she can remember, writing is something that always held a certain allure. However, she would have many false starts until she finally completed her first novel aged twelve. It was a novel that combined the many fascinating ideas she had always had and would become a springboard for the many novels she would pen over the next several years. While she wrote her first novel as a preteen, her first published work was the 2013 published “Deviation” which was the debut novel of the “Breaking the Pattern” series of novels. She currently has more than sixty novels in more than nine series. For her writing, Workman has been the winner of several literary awards including a young adult fiction award from the Library Services for Youth Custody.
PD Workman is a native of Alberta Canada and is a mother of one and a devout wife. She works a day job as an Executive Assistant and homeschooler and writes her novels during the weekends and in the evenings. She has a passion for nature and art, running, and often eats special diets that require creative cooking. When she is not working or writing her novels, she loves to listen to audiobooks, read and share works of fiction she has found with friends and family. Workman is also a technology nerd and has all manner of tools and gadgets to make her work and writing easier and fun. While she is quite an expressive writer, she tends to be reserved and shy except for persons that are very close to her.
The lead of the “Zachary Goldman Mysteries” is a flawed man who has been batter by the many tragedies in his past. But Goldman manages to pick himself up and digging deeper into things he often finds the vital clues he needs. As a broken man, he finds that others that have been through similar tragedies trust him easier. In the novels, he stretches his abilities to the limit but more often than not solves the cases. He lives a very shambolic life but whenever there is a tough case to be solved he is the type of man that you want working on your case. In the debut novel of the series, “She Wore Mourning” Zachary Goldman’s life as a private investigator is hard. He is trying to put the events of his past behind him, even as he investigates the death of Declan Bond, a five-year-old child. “His Hands were Quiet” the second novel of the series sees Zachary hired to investigate the mysterious death of an autistic child that had been living in a rehabilitation facility. Goldman thinks some of the therapies at the facility seem suspicious. Goldman’s third outing in “She was Dying Anyway” sees him reunite with Bridget his ex as they team up to investigate the mysterious death of her friend. The police had initially declared it “death by natural causes” but now they are not so sure.
In the first novel of the “Zachary Goldman Mysteries,” “She Wore Mourning” Goldman has taken a gut-wrenching case as he is investigating the death of a five-year-old boy who supposedly died by drowning. The police have declared it an accidental death but his grandmother is suspicious of the whole affair and hires the private investigator Zachary Goldman to investigate. The investigator also thinks there is something fishy in the whole affair but is yet to find any evidence of foul play. Things get even more interesting when there is an attempt on his life but he cannot be too sure if the incident has something to do with the present case. The boy had been abducted while playing in his parents’ backyard and then murdered him. The list of possible suspects is very long and Goldman will not have it easy finding the man responsible. Could it have been a pedophile or maybe the parent, there is also a forensic scientist that has been too interested in the case. Not even the grandmother will be left out of the investigation. Zachary Goldman is a compelling even if deeply flawed character. Given his tragic past, he finds it hard to appear normal and interact with the world that can be an impediment to his work as a private investigator.
“His Hands were Quiet” the second novel of the “Zachary Goldman Mysteries” still follows Zachary the private investigator. He had learned photography from his father and the skill now comes in handy in his work as a private investigator. When he is called to investigate the mysterious death of a 14-year-old autistic boy, he cannot refuse the distraught mother. Quentin had been living at a rehabilitation facility and had suddenly dropped dead. His mother reported him being agitated for several weeks before his death even though he had once upon a time liked living at the facility. The boy did not have the mental capacity to plan a suicide and there is something very fishy about the whole thing. Touring the facility, he investigates how the place is run but feels that there is something off about it. The residents were taught what to say and how to react from a script they had internalized. While Goldman is haunted by the anger and emotions of his past, he soldiers on with the investigations and unearths a ton of interesting stuff. Zachary as a private investigator with special needs who has at one time had to live in an institution has a unique perspective that an ordinary person would usually not have.
In the third novel of the “Zachary Goldman Mysteries” titled “She was Dying Anyway,” our favorite private investigator takes a case as a favor to Bridget his ex-wife. It should have been an open and shut case but the more he looks into the mystery of Robin Salter’s death, the more he is convinced that Bridget’s suspicions may have something to them. Bridget desperately wants to know the circumstances of her friend’s death as the police finally reactivate what had been declared death by natural causes. But there is a kink in the investigation as neither Ronin Salter’s family nor the police believe that Goldman is interfering. The only person willing to work with him is Bridget but she has been recently digging into his past and he does not like it.