The City of Smoke and Mirrors

The City of Smoke and Mirrors is the first book in The Armadillo Mysteries.

Buy it at Amazon, Amazon Canada, Chapters, or SmashWords (for more ebook format options). It’s also available in audiobook form at Audible.

About the Book

The name’s Dilbert Pinkerton, private detective. Friends call me Dill. I’m a mutant armadillo. I dig for the truth.

And the truth is I need to get out of the city, away from supernatural mobsters that want my carapace for a foot bath. So when some rich dame saunters into my Hovel Office with a job, I take it. Even if it’s to retrieve a pearl necklace that’s not here. I’m desperate enough, I don’t even care the job sends me to Nevermore Bay.

Yeah, Nevermore Bay: the city where some wacko in a mask hurdles across rooftops; calls himself The Buzzard. Criminals are scared pantsless of him. ‘Course, most people think he’s a myth created by the police department.

If you ask me, that’s a far more exciting mystery than some oyster’s cough drops. Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone during this vacation. If, that is, I don’t get killed by the police, Don Komodo’s crew that’s on my tail, some of The Buzzard’s rogues gallery or the Buzzard, himself.

Readers Who Dig Dill

“Nick Piers is sick and twisted. An armadillo? In a fedora? Baby, you had me at armadillo.”

• Joseph Lamere, author of the Dramatis Personae series

“Despite the absurd premise and the oftentimes overwrought language, the plot is tight, the characters are eccentric goofballs, and the author’s overriding sense of humor helps smooth out the rough spots.”

• Eric Searlman at Superhero Novels

“It’s a great read and you’d do yourself a favor by picking it up. If you like noir-style detective novels like Butcher’s Dresden Files or Mark Everett Stone’s BSI series, this one will be right up your alley.”

• Dave Nihsen

“It’s like Mickey Spillane meets Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!”

• Andrew Brombay

“Mutant detective five foot armadillo private dick with a fedora. Check. Hardboiled fiction. Check. Mafioso and vigilantism. Check. It’s at this point you’ve either decided you’re intrigued or not. I’m hoping for the former.”

• Twisted Sense

“As one might expect, a book about a five-foot armadillo detective is something that might be difficult to take seriously. Fortunately, Mr. Piers doesn’t make the mistake of trying.”

• Roger W. Brenton

“City of Smoke and Mirrors is full of energy, and skillfully balances a wide load of humor with some pretty dark details. It’s an effective mystery and character story, the kind I had trouble putting down.”

• Darryl Fabia, author of Children of the White Wolf

“Rife with comic book references and sly winks and nods to the pop culture I grew up with, it was clear while reading the story that the author was having fun with what he was doing, which translates into the rest of the story.”

• Steven Ferrari

“Funny and intense, Piers crafts a character that seems familiar – but not quite – from the first page. Excellent story from an up and coming writer.”

• J.W. Houk

“I might be biased (my name is in the acknowledgments at the end – which is pretty sweet!), but I thought this was a really fun read.”

• Mike Romard, writer (especially of haikus, like his Year in  Haiku)

“Loved it.”

• Mom, who is definitely a little biased.