Borealis Investigations Series by Gregory Ashe

Shaw and North are best friends, private detectives, and in danger of losing their agency. A single bad case, followed by crippling lawsuits, has put them on the brink of closing shop. Until, that is, a client walks into their Benton Park office.Matty Fennmore is young, blond, and beautiful, and he’s in danger. When he asks for Shaw and North’s help foiling a blackmail scheme, the detectives are quick to accept.The conspiracy surrounding Matty runs deeper than Shaw and North expect... moreShaw and North are best friends, private detectives, and in danger of losing their agency. A single bad case, followed by crippling lawsuits, has put them on the brink of closing shop. Until, that is, a client walks into their Benton Park office.Matty Fennmore is young, blond, and beautiful, and he’s in danger. When he asks for Shaw and North’s help foiling a blackmail scheme, the detectives are quick to accept.The conspiracy surrounding Matty runs deeper than Shaw and North expect. As they dig into the identity of Matty’s blackmailer, they are caught in a web that touches politicians, the local LGBT community, and the city’s police.An attack on Matty drives home the rising stakes of the case, and Shaw and North must race to find the blackmailer before he can silence Matty. But a budding romance lays bare long-buried feelings between Shaw and North, and as their relationship splinters, solving the case may come at the cost of their friendship. less

North and Shaw: Out of Office is a collection of short stories. It includes the following: “Bad Boys at the Radio Girls” Radio Girls is a lesbian bar. A group of straight guys thinks it’s funny to crash. North and Shaw are hired to take care of this problem (and they try not to fulfill the white savior stereotype while doing so). This story takes place before Orientation. “Gone Goat” North thinks Shaw needs a vacation. Shaw isn’t so sure, until he hears about the possibility of goat yoga... moreNorth and Shaw: Out of Office is a collection of short stories. It includes the following: “Bad Boys at the Radio Girls” Radio Girls is a lesbian bar. A group of straight guys thinks it’s funny to crash. North and Shaw are hired to take care of this problem (and they try not to fulfill the white savior stereotype while doing so). This story takes place before Orientation. “Gone Goat” North thinks Shaw needs a vacation. Shaw isn’t so sure, until he hears about the possibility of goat yoga. When the goats disappear, though, Shaw decides he only wants one thing on his vacation: to find them. This story takes place before Triangulation. “Puppy Patrol” Shaw and North are going to spend a peaceful weekend at a lakeside cabin. Until, that is, a dog starts barking. This story takes place before Declination. “Shaw Aldrich and the Case of the Missing Leash” North leaves Shaw in charge of the puppy for one night. This story takes place after Declination. “North and Shaw: Out of Office” A series of six vignettes featuring North and Shaw in daily life. This story takes place after Declination. Please note that the first three stories were distributed in a preliminary form to mailing list subscribers. “Shaw Aldrich and the Case of the Missing Leash” was also released in a preliminary form to attendees at GRL 2019. “North and Shaw: Out of Office” is exclusively available in this collection. less

North thinks Shaw needs a vacation. Shaw isn’t so sure, until he hears about the possibility of goat yoga. When the goats disappear, though, Shaw decides he only wants one thing on his vacation: to find them.This story takes place before Triangulation.

After a recent case with a treacherous client, North and Shaw are ready to go back to work building Borealis Investigations. They’re also ready to go back to dodging their feelings for each other, with neither man ready to deal with the powerful emotions the Matty Fennmore case stirred up. Everything is getting back to normal when their secretary asks for help: her girlfriend’s boss has gone missing. Shep Collins runs a halfway house for LGBTQ kids and is a prominent figure in St... moreAfter a recent case with a treacherous client, North and Shaw are ready to go back to work building Borealis Investigations. They’re also ready to go back to dodging their feelings for each other, with neither man ready to deal with the powerful emotions the Matty Fennmore case stirred up. Everything is getting back to normal when their secretary asks for help: her girlfriend’s boss has gone missing. Shep Collins runs a halfway house for LGBTQ kids and is a prominent figure in St. Louis’s gay community. When he disappears, however, dark truths begin to emerge about Shep’s past: his string of failed relationships, a problem with disappearing money, and his work, years before, as one of the foremost proponents of conversion therapy. When Shep’s body turns up at the halfway house, the search for a missing person becomes the search for a murderer. As North and Shaw probe for answers, they find that they are not the only ones who have come looking for the truth about Shep Collins. Their investigation puts them at odds with the police who are working the same case, and in that conflict, North and Shaw find threads leading back to the West End Slasher—the serial killer who almost took Shaw’s life in an alley seven years before. As the web of an ancient conspiracy comes to light, Shaw is driven to find answers, and North faces what might be his last chance to tell Shaw how he really feels. less

Shaw and North are going to spend a peaceful weekend at a lakeside cabin. Until, that is, a dog starts barking.This story takes place before Declination.

Shaw and North are together. Finally. After eight years of knowing each other and loving each other and slipping past each other, they’ve finally told each other how they feel. Borealis Investigations is growing, and they have a major prospective client on the line. Everything is finally moving the way it should. Until the night Shaw receives a phone call telling him that Detective Jadon Reck, his former boyfriend, has been attacked... moreShaw and North are together. Finally. After eight years of knowing each other and loving each other and slipping past each other, they’ve finally told each other how they feel. Borealis Investigations is growing, and they have a major prospective client on the line. Everything is finally moving the way it should. Until the night Shaw receives a phone call telling him that Detective Jadon Reck, his former boyfriend, has been attacked. At the request of Jadon’s partner, Shaw and North begin an investigation into the attack. But nothing is at it seems. City police are working to cover up evidence faster than Shaw and North can find it, and the motive for the attack seems impossible to unravel. When a conspiracy of dirty cops takes action against Shaw and North, the two detectives realize they are running out of time. They have to get answers about the attack on Jadon before they lose their own lives. But Shaw knows there are things worse than death. And one of them has come back for him, to finish what he started seven years before. The West End Slasher has returned. less