“Dark Side of Sunset Pointe, A Lance Underphal Mystery” Holds Tight Grip on Readers Through Intense Plot Twists

On the heels of the Great Recession, Michael Allan Scott’s net worth dropped $7 million. And at age 58, his commercial real estate business imploded. Scott then bounced back to create the Lance Underphal murder mystery series. The first book, Dark Side of Sunset Pointe – A Lance Underphal Mystery breaks new ground.

His passion for writing fiction fueled the comeback. With a driving interest in reality-based mystery noir, Scott researched both white collar and violent crime for insight into their underworld. His mystery novel reflects that hardboiled realism infused with supernatural elements.

Scott developed the material into plot lines that are both edgy and based on actual fact, such as the shooting of a martial arts instructor and his girlfriend in a Phoenix fast food drive-thru.

Dark Side of Sunset Pointe received immediate praise for Scott and his unique crime series. His first mystery book introduces Lance Underphal. Devastated by his wife’s death, the down and out crime-scene photographer can’t let her go. He wakes up plagued by premonitions. The double shooting of an Arizona real estate developer and his mistress/bookkeeper immerse Underphal in a world of incomprehensible phenomena.

Frank Salmon, the hard-boiled homicide detective on the case, does his best to blow off Underphal’s “visions.” But the murders keep piling up and the visions are all-too real.

Salmon reluctantly pursues Underphal’s twists and turns, leading him from a popular strip club to a failing community bank, adding a blackmailing stripper’s murder to the body count. Chasing down the leads takes Salmon on a wild ride more horrific than even Underphal had envisioned.

The popularity of Scott’s work stems from his experiences in the world of commercial real estate, providing a real-world context. An Arizona desert rat, he evokes images that place readers firmly in and around the Phoenix area. Along with his grasp of the paranormal and how those who are no longer in the land of the living may influence actual events, Scott weaves it all into his mystery books.

Reader reviews of Dark Side of Sunset Pointe have been both impressed and enthusiastic. The book trailer was directed by award winning director Denice Duff.

Meanwhile, the second in the mystery series, The Flight of the Tarantula Hawk, will be released within in the next few weeks. Homegrown from a devastated housing market, it too is spattered with mysterious murders. It is already garnering readers at michaelallanscott.com.

For Scott, mystery, thriller & suspense fiction, has eclipsed his real estate career, luckily for all those who love a good read.