There’s No Place Like Northeast Ohio For Authors Les Roberts & Lisa Black

By Linda Feagler

A Detective with a Heart
It’s been five years since Cleveland private eye Milan Jacovich solved his last case in our northcoast city. Will the beloved investigator make another appearance? 

Cleveland author Les Roberts answers with a resounding yes. Over the last three decades, he’s penned 19 mystery novels starring the blue-collar gumshoe. His latest, “Sheehan’s Dog,” is being published in late 2020 by Down & Out Books. As they were in Roberts’ past page-turners, Milan’s significant other, homicide detective Tobe Blaine and local mob boss Victor Gaimari are integral to the plot. 

“I’m thrilled about the messages I receive from fans asking me to bring Milan back,” says Roberts, 83. “I’ve missed him, too. If you think about it, famous fictional private eyes like Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe are not nice guys. I think everyone who has read Milan loves him because he’s a very decent human being. He doesn’t beat up people for the fun of it. He’s looking for a lasting relationship, but women dump him because he’s in a very dangerous profession. He’s the kind of guy you’d like to sit down and have a Stroh’s with.”

Local Flavor
It’s no surprise that Roberts ultimately found his calling writing crime novels. As a teenager growing up on Chicago’s North Side, he devoured the words of John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. But thoughts of following in those storied authors’ footsteps were overshadowed by the lure of the stage. Roberts moved to New York, where he performed off-Broadway and started writing comedy. In 1966, he headed to Los Angeles and became a scriptwriter for “The Andy Griffith Show,” “The Lucy Show,” “Candid Camera” and “Hollywood Squares.”

“It didn’t take long to realize the life I was living wasn’t reality,” he says. “After all, they call it La-la Land for a reason.” 

For Roberts, forging a new path and never looking back is second nature. It’s what brought him to Cleveland in 1987, after accepting a job to launch “Cash Explosion” for the Ohio Lottery.

Many of Milan’s haunts — which range from the upscale ambiance of Nighttown to the eclectic West Side Market to the elegant Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, are Roberts’ favorites, too.

“Cleveland is an amazing place,” he says. “There’s so much to write about and so much that inspires me — the neighborhoods, the ethnicities, the people. The years I’ve spent here have been the best of my life.”

Mystery, Suspense and Crime
On a wintry morning in Cleveland, forensic scientist Maggie Gardiner is asked to investigate the murders of two men: One is discovered in Erie Street Cemetery, the other is three miles away behind the West Side Market. Although seemingly unrelated, Gardiner is not so sure. It’s up to her to put the pieces together and bring the perpetrator to justice.

Since 2005, Strongsville native Lisa Black, 57, has been penning suspense novels set in and around Cleveland. For her 15th book, “Every Kind of Wicked,” which was released in August, Black delves into the world of pill-pushing physicians and telephone fraud scams. 

A Heartfelt Homage
“The appeal of mystery stories goes back hundreds of years,” she says. “We love putting all the pieces together and finding the hidden treasure which is the solution we’re seeking.”

Like the women in her novels, Black — a forensic scientist, latent print examiner and certified crime analyst — scrutinizes gunshot residue, clothing, hair, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and trace evidence found on bodies and at crime scenes to decipher potential clues.

As Black discusses the plots she’s constructed, it’s clear each book serves not only as a heartfelt homage to her favorite literary genre but also to the years she spent working in the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office in the ’90s.

“My time at the coroner’s office was busy, incredibly stressful and intense,” she recalls. “But every day was an adventure.”

In 2000, when her husband Russ got tired of lake-effect winters, the couple pulled up stakes and moved to Florida, where Black still works as a latent print examiner and certified crime analyst for the Cape Coral Police Department. 

While childhood friends played with Barbies, Black spent her formative years writing mysteries based on “Adam 12,” “Perry Mason” and “Ellery Queen” — the TV shows she and her dad always watched together.

“I wanted to be a detective just like Ellery Queen,” Black says. “It seemed like the kind of job where you worked your own hours, and then you’d call everybody into the library and tell them who committed the crime.”

She went on to earn a bachelor of science degree in biology from Cleveland State University, which led to her job in the coroner’s office.

Although she’s lived in Florida for 20 years, Black always sets greater Cleveland as the scene of her crimes. Favorite places include Cleveland Public Library, The Arcade and Playhouse Square.

“There’s so many interesting facets of Cleveland’s existence that are unique,” she says. “And so much life here that’s worth exploring.”

For more information about Lisa’s books, visit lisa-black.com