SERIES TOUR
The Declan Hunt Mysteries by Peter E. Fenton
Declan Hunt is good at solving mysteries, but cracking the case of his evolving relationship with his new office assistant Charlie Watts is proving to be more challenging than expected.
This four part detective series is filled with emotional twists and turns, secrets, crimes of passion and an unlikely partnership that simmers beneath the surface.
Declan and Charlie's adventures take them from the skyscrapers of downtown Calgary, to the prairies near The Badlands of Alberta and onward to the rugged mountains of The Canadian Rockies.
But will these cases bring them together or tear them apart?
You'll have to read to the very end to find out.
Are the stories standalone or do they have to be read in order?
The first three books CAN be read as standalone, but the final book wraps up the entire plot arc. The series is best enjoyed in order, as the relationship between the central characters evolves.
Cover Artist: Erin Dameron-Hill
Publisher: Pride Publishing/Entwined Publishing/First for Romance
Pairing: MM
Genres: Contemporary Mystery/Gay Detective
Tropes: Hot Detective, Canadian, Slow Burn/Low Heat, Co-workers
Themes: Relationships between gay sons and their fathers
Tense/POV: Multiple POV
Overall Heat Rating:
The first and second books are 3 flames.
The third and fourth book closer to 2 flames.
BOOK DETAILS
BOOK 4 - RECENT RELEASE
Book Title: The Attercop
Length: 249 Pages
Release Date: August 4, 2026
This book is best read after reading the first three books.
No cliffhanger. The door is left open for this duo to solve more cases, but at present there aren’t any other books in this series planned. HFN ending
Available in Kindle Unlimited
How far would you be willing to go to keep the one you love?
Blurb
Charlie Watts has found the perfect partner in Declan Hunt, and he hopes that they can spend the rest of their lives together. But when your boss is sexy and talented, sometimes you're not the only one who wants to tie him down.
The Attercop, a clever adversary who is good with disguises, starts to spin a web of lies and deceit to get Declan for his very own. And as the two detectives look into a break-in where nothing is taken, and a random beating at a gay bar, their perfect partnership begins to unravel.
Will Charlie be able to stop the worst from happening, or will The Attercop get his wish and take Declan away from Charlie forever?
An excerpt from The Attercop
He stood naked in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, took a sip of his vodka, and stared out at his view—which, he acknowledged, was courtesy of his father who had essentially paid for it by having the decency of dying and leaving him a healthy inheritance.
The money had come as a great surprise because his father had heartily disapproved of him. Not so much because he was gay—although his father had loudly carped that a queer son wouldn’t produce another generation to carry on the family name. No, the expansive parent–child chasm had grown out of his father’s determination that his son was weak and useless, just like his mother, who had run off with another man. He’d never met the other guy, but he had, after all, only been five when it had happened.
His father had further declared that his son “had no gumption” and that if he didn’t prove he could make something out of himself by the time he was thirty, he would be cut out of his father’s will. In the end it didn’t matter. Fate had intervened and the old man had died just a few days before his son’s thirtieth birthday.
The year surrounding that event had been filled with unexpected surprises, such as the reappearance of his mother. She’d said that she’d been watching him from afar and wanted to help him establish himself. She had used her connections to land him a decent job in a small, financially stable firm. He was all set for success. It looked as if he was going to prove his father wrong after all. But no matter how hard he tried, things never seemed to go his way, especially in his search for love, because nobody really liked him. Every time he thought he’d found ‘Mr Right’, it always turned into ‘Mr Right-Now-But-Never-Again’.
At first, he couldn’t understand why. He was good-looking and intelligent. He was certain he was good in bed. His major flaw, from what he could see, was that he fell in love too easily, and that was something he couldn’t help. He was a giver and, to those he fell for, he gave everything. He became infatuated with them. And what did he get in return? Another view of the curb he’d been kicked to—again and again.
Well, he’d had it with that. He was done with being ‘Mr Nice Guy’. He took another swig of his drink and lay on the carpet by the window. A small spider made its way along the floor and crawled up his naked body, past his carefully groomed pubic hair, slowly working its way toward his navel. He put his hand on his stomach to block its path, but it simply crawled up onto his fingers. Nothing was going to stand in its way.
He held the spider up to his face and watched its tiny legs working in precise synchronicity as it traversed the back of his hand. It was persistent. It had gumption.
Many people would have thrown the spider to the floor or squashed it where it stood. Spiders were repulsive to most—things to be feared, to be reviled. But he liked spiders. They were patient and meticulous and never gave up. Even when people tore down their webs, they started again. He needed to become more like a spider. He needed to decide what he wanted and go after it. And if anyone stood in his way, he would show them what a spider could do. Like the ones in his favourite book The Hobbit, he would ensnare his enemies, keep what he wanted, and make the others feel pain and suffering. ‘Attercop’ was what the character Bilbo had called the spiders. A term that meant ‘poison head’ in old English. It was intended to be an insult, but he liked the description.
He gently lifted his hand to his face. It was time for he and the spider to become as one. He set it on the end of his tongue and swallowed. He knew what his purpose was. It was time to become The Attercop, spinning his web. And soon, he would pounce. He would snare the thing that he wanted most and if anyone got in his way, he’d suck them dry and discard their empty husks. And there was one person in particular he yearned to snare. Declan Hunt would be his.
START THE SERIES
BOOK 1
Book Title: Mann Hunt
Length: 295 pages
Release Date: August 29, 2023
It is the first part of a four part series. It can be read as a standalone.
It is clear that there is more in the series to come, but it doesn’t have a cliff-hanger. HFN
How far would you be willing to go to finish the job?
Blurb
Declan Hunt is having a bad week. His kidnapping case is showing little progress, his office assistant has left him on short notice, and his latest investigation has left him literally battered and bruised. But things change when he hires twenty-four year old Charlie Watts to help out at the office. They form an unlikely partnership trying to solve two seemingly unrelated cases whose threads begin to weave together when the missing person case turns to murder.
The investigation takes them from the dark alleys, gay bars and bath houses of Calgary, to the richest parts of the city during the world-famous Calgary Stampede.
The investigation takes them from the dark alleys, gay bars and bath houses of Calgary, to the richest parts of the city during the world-famous Calgary Stampede.
But will they be able to discover who the killer is before another life is lost? And will Declan be able to solve the mystery of his relationship with Charlie who is clearly attracted to him — especially since it is evident that the attraction is becoming mutual?
BOOK 2
Book Title: Hoodoo House
Length: 253 Pages
Release Date: June 25, 2024
It can be read as a standalone, but is better read as the second book in the series.
It is clear there is more in the series, but it does not end on a cliffhanger. HFN
Available in Kindle Unlimited
How far would you be willing to go to keep a secret?
Blurb
When writer Malcolm Tull is discovered dead at his writing desk, all signs point to suicide. But Malcolm' s editor isn't so sure. There' s the matter of the man' s missing computer, a mislaid manuscript and the fact that he didn't seem the type to take his own life.
Declan Hunt and Charlie Watts are called into action and make their way to the mysterious Hoodoo House nestled on the edge of the Badlands of Alberta. Soon they are embroiled in a case involving blackmail, gay tricks and possibly even murder.
As the secrets of Hoodoo House come to light, Charlie discovers that his boss has been keeping a few secrets of his own, secrets that could impact their romantic relationship outside of the office. And before this investigation is done, Charlie will have to get to the truth, even if it means this might be his final case for Declan Hunt Investigations.
BOOK 3
Book Title: The Burnt
Length: 243 Pages
Release Date: August 5, 2025
This book references a case in the earlier books, so it is best to have read books 1 and 2.
The book ends on a cliffhanger. HFN
Available in Kindle Unlimited
How far would you be willing to go to reveal the truth?
Blurb
Finding work-life balance isn't always easy when you’re sleeping with the boss. Charlie Watts is feeling stressed as he studies for his private investigator’s license, starts taking on his own cases and tries to navigate his relationship with Declan Hunt. He thinks he can handle it, but every time their relationship is going well, work always seems to get in the way.
While Charlie investigates a threatening note that appears to be from a boy who mysteriously disappeared ten years ago, Declan tries to find the meaning behind the final words of a man who was brutally murdered. As Declan and Charlie work to solve these mysteries, secrets from the past are exposed, Charlie is haunted by ghostly dreams, and Declan is forced to confront some terrible truths from a hidden past.
Ultimately, the truth will be revealed, but at what cost? And will Declan and Charlie be able to solve the mystery of where they want to go next with their relationship before things at work take a terrible turn?
About the Author
Peter’s first novel, The Woodcarver’s Model was released by Pride Publishing in April of 2022 and was a four time nominee in the Goodreads M/M Romance Readers’ Choice Awards.
Following the success of the first book, Pride Publishing/Entwined Publishing released The Declan Hunt Mysteries series which includes Mann Hunt (nominated for a Goodreads M/M Romance Readers’ Choice Award and translated into German, Italian and Spanish), Hoodoo House, (also a Goodreads M/M Romance Readers’ Choice Award nominee and now available in Italian and Spanish), and The Burnt which came out in August of 2025 in English, Italian and Spanish with Entwined Publishing. The Burnt was also nominated for a Goodreads M/M Romance Readers' Choice Award in the Mystery/Whodunnit category. The fourth and final novel in the series - The Attercop - was released in August of 2026.
2024 also saw the release of the critically acclaimed teen novella Not Not Normal, published by Lorimer Press. This book was also nominated for a Goodreads M/M Romance Readers' Choice Award.
Peter's previous work was focused on writing for the stage, with award-winning productions of The Giant’s Garden, Newfoundland Mary, Bemused, and The Detective Disappears being produced across the country.
All of his novels are proudly set in Canada and are filled with humour and heart.
He spent many years working in palaeontology in remote locations including the Canadian Rockies, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Peter lives in Toronto, Canada with his partner of twenty-five years, Scott White. At heart, he is an incredible romantic.
Author Links
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