Riordan's Desk

Mark Coggins

1 Creator

Crime fiction by Mark Coggins featuring private investigator August Riordan. Each season is a one chapter/one episode reading of a Riordan novel by the author. Season 1 is THE DEAD BEAT SCROLL, a book the New York Journal of Books called a “Glorious potpourri of violence, black humor ... sex, and a hunt for a lost manuscript.” Note that the podcast is intended for mature audiences and includes curse words, violence and sex.

#1 in the Top 100 Indie crime fiction All time chart

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Top 10 Riordan's Desk Episodes

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The Dead Beat Scroll, Chapter 1 - Golden Fingers

Riordan's Desk

05/07/20 • 16 min

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In this audio fiction presentation of the novel The Dead Beat Scroll, private investigator August Riordan returns to San Francisco to avenge the death of his friend and one-time partner, Chris Duckworth. Duckworth has taken over Riordan’s old business, his old office, and even his old apartment, and Riordan suspects Duckworth’s death is linked to the missing-person case he was working when he died.

An alluring young woman named Angelina hired Duckworth to look for her half-sister, but what Riordan finds instead is a murderous polyamorous family intent on claiming a previously unknown manuscript from Beat writer Jack Kerouac.

Following clues from Duckworth and a trail of mutilated bodies left by the family, Riordan soon realizes that avenging his partner will first involve recovering the manuscript—then saving Angelina and himself from kidnap, torture, and death. As the bodies pile up, Riordan must work with old allies and enemies to untangle Duckworth’s last case before time runs out.
In Chapter 1, Riordan makes a late-night visit to a massage parlor.

Podcast ending June 1, 2024.

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No Hard Feelings, Chapter 18 - Winnie

Riordan's Desk

12/16/20 • 11 min

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Winnie and Riordan share a moment.

Podcast ending June 1, 2024.

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Runoff, Chapter 14 - Playing Footsie

Riordan's Desk

05/28/22 • 23 min

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Riordan has a talk with Tony "Squid Boy" Wu.

Podcast ending June 1, 2024.

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No Hard Feelings, Chapter 5 - Winnie

Riordan's Desk

09/09/20 • 18 min

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Winnie meets Ray, who lends her a hand.

Podcast ending June 1, 2024.

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Runoff, Chapter 1 - The Midnight Ride of John Deere

Riordan's Desk

02/26/22 • 17 min

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Runoff
How much does it cost to fix an election? August Riordan—private investigator, jazz bass player, smart ass with a foolish heart—is going to find out. He’s been hired by Leonora Lee, the all-powerful “Dragon Lady” of San Francisco’s Chinatown, to investigate the results of the city’s recent mayoral election. It seems the Dragon Lady’s candidate failed to even carry the Chinese precincts, and she’s convinced that someone must have rigged the outcome by hacking the city’s newly installed touch-screen voting machines.

A runoff between the two remaining candidates is days away, but it takes Riordan mere hours to find the Director of Elections dead in his office. A visit to the offices of Columbia Voting Systems—the suppliers of the city’s touch-screen machines—results in another corpse. A wide range of political interests share a stake in the election, so Riordan’s got plenty of suspects.

But when the Dragon Lady’s beautiful daughter is attacked after giving Riordan a goodnight kiss, it starts to get personal. Soon, Riordan is in a race not only against the runoff deadline, but against powerful political movers and shakers, Chinatown gang members, and crazed anarchists, with only his techno-savvy, cross-dressing friend Chris to help.

The cost of fixing an election runs to as many lives as it does dollars, and if Riordan isn’t careful, the price for un-fixing it may be more than he can afford...
"1930s Seedy Street Music" by AstroFreq.
In Chapter 1, Riordan stakes out the Bank of Canton in San Francisco’s Chinatown in hopes of catching a thief using heavy equipment to steal bank ATMs.

Podcast ending June 1, 2024.

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