The Zen Man

Retail

Just as washed-up criminal defense attorney, life-long Deadhead (nickname "The Zen Man"), and current PI Rick Levine decides to get relicensed as a lawyer, he's charged with killing one and ends up in the slammer with a half-mil bail.

Released on bond, Rick and his girlfriend Laura have 30 days to find the real killer. In the course of their investigations, they dig for dirt among Denver's shady legal backrooms to its tony corporate centers. Dodging bullets, a kidnapping, trumped-up charges and the FBI's unwanted intervention, Rick and Laura continue tracking key suspects who have motive...eventually learning that true redemption begins at home.

"Great humor. Great dialogue. Author did a great job of establishing the relationship between Rick and Laura. It never overshadowed the mystery, but it made the book truly multi-dimensional. Fans of Janet Evanovich (if she woke up one morning and took on the persona of a recovering addict/Deadhead) and Nick and Nora Charles might enjoy this story."

~New York Times best-selling author Dorien Kelly

"I loved every single word of The Zen Man!"
~ Delores Fossen, USA Today best-selling author

"A brilliant mystery novel...I eagerly await the return of the Zen Man."
~Becky Sherriff, The Kindle Book Review

"Move over Sam Spade, Nick and Nora; make room for a Denver who-dun-it, Colleen Collins's The Zen Man. Brilliant and fast-paced writing. I couldn't put it down."
~ Donnell Ann Bell,
 award-winning author of The Past Came Hunting

"A fantastic read from start to finish. Reminded me a great deal of the works of Robert Crais and Robert B Parker."
~MacKenzie Brown

"... excellent writing, a liberal dose of humor, a fast-paced plot, and a sympathetic, wise-cracking protagonist."
~Nancy Wood, author of Due Date 

Does Life Mimic Fiction?

Sometimes. Just as the characters, Rick and Laura, in The Zen Man are a man-and-woman private eye team, I co-owned a private detective agency with my husband for a decade. And, like Rick and Laura, our trusty canine investigator was a Rottweiler who wasn't quite as lazy as the Rottie in The Zen Man, but every bit as funny.

Prequel to **The Zen Man: Available Fall 2013**

The prequel, The Ungrateful Dead, tells the story of Rick and Laura's on one of their first dates...at a coroner's conference.  It's not that Rick has a macabre sense of where to woo a woman, but being a presenter at the conference he has a free room, free meals, so why not make it a date?

When a dead body shows up at the coroner's conference, Rick, a former defense attorney and current private eye, investigates the murder with help from Laura, making this a date she'll never forget!

Like Rick and Laura, my husband and I have also given presentations at our state coroners' conferences, which are a lot more fun and lively than you might imagine.