"I have been writing for decades: magazine articles, screenplays, editorial columns and the odd novel here and there, but I have never had so much fun as I have writing the Sanibel Sunset Detective Novels. These stories are fast-paced detective/ mystery/ thrillers with a bit of LOL humour thrown in. I sincerely hope you have as much fun reading these adventures as I have writing them."

Reader Reviews

"Base is an excellent and experienced writer who pulls you into this story right from the start and doesn't let you go until the last page. The main character, Tree Callister, an aging Sanibel resident, is like no detective you've ever read about before…Bravo, Ron Base, for a fun and captivating read. "
--Douglas Dillon, author of Sliding Beneath The Surface, the St. Augstine Trilogy Book

There is plenty of Sanibel Island color in both The Sanibel Sunset Detective and The Sanibel Sunset Detective Returns. There is also lots of the action, suspense, and great plot twists Base's readers have come to expect."
--The Island Sun, Sanibel Island, Florida

"Ron Base is one heck of a writer!"
-- The Island Reporter, Sanibel Island, Florida

“It’s probably one of the best books I’ve ever read. I kept on wanting to read it because it was such a page-turner.”
--Evan Magno, Cranston, Rhode Island

“I loved the pace, the humor, the setting, of course, and especially the characters—Tree and Freddie.”
--Frances Miller, Chestertown, Maryland

“Yesterday I read the entire book and enjoyed all of it. It was intriguing, interesting, and kept me wanting to read more. Thank you for the entertainment.”
--Tina Hayes, Walpole, Maine

“I stayed up way past my usual bedtime last night because I couldn’t call it quits before I finished the book. Masterful job, very complicated but riveting plot(s) and cast of characters. Congratulations and thanks for a good read.”
--Alice Brandfonbrener, Chicago, Illinois

“I love this series!!! Writing detective fiction, like most things, is not as easy as it looks. Ron makes it seem easy but I suspect that creating these tales is as complicated as poor old Tree's endeavors to make a living, enjoy Sanibel, stay alive, and keep his long suffering wife from getting into his business. Haven't we all been there?”
--D. Heathen, Waterloo, IA

“I have read all three of the series by Ron Base and am thrilled that I discovered him. His writings remind me of John D. MacDonald who wrote the Travis McGee series back in the 70's, set in Ft.Lauderdale. It is so refreshing to have a protagonist, Tree Callister, who doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, isn't an ex-marine capable of incredible physical feats and who loves his wife above anything. His self-effacing, Columbo-like character is very endearing. I was beginning to get tired of James Patterson. Hurry up with that next one Ron.”
--Neil Browne

“Ron Base has once again written the perfect crime novel. Plot twists galore, plenty of humor as well as likeable and believable characters. I enjoy how he continues to describe his less-than-perfect ‘hero’, Tree Callister, by including all his faults, foibles and good intentions. As in his previous "Sunset" novels, he humanizes his characters to the point where you feel as if you know them personally. His descriptions of beautiful Sanibel make you want to hop the next plane out and enjoy the history, the locals and the idyllic settings he so vividly describes. Definitely looking forward to ‘The Two Sanibel Sunset Detectives.’”
--Sally Hutt

“You know how exciting it is to discover a new mystery series? For anyone visiting Florida or dreaming about visiting, this is a terrific book. The dialogue is well done and well-paced. I like Tree, the main character, very much. I like that he's not superhuman, he makes mistakes, he's not sure of himself. I like that he gets seasick (I can relate). I was in the middle of a couple other books that I'd planned to get through first but this one kept calling until I sat down and finished it yesterday.”
---R. Stanley

Tree Callister is not much of a private detective. His first client just turned up at the door and he's twelve years old. What's more, the kid has the grand total of $7 with which to hire Tree to find his mother. Everyone on Sanibel Island, Florida where Tree lives, thinks the former newspaper reporter is out of his mind. His only defender is his wife Freddie, and even she has doubts. Then a headless body shows up, along with a threatening thug, a couple of suspicious detectives, and a former girlfriend now an ex-FBI agent who suspects Tree knows more than he is admitting. Before long, Tree is up to his neck in the kind of murder and mystery he only imagined as a boy reading the private detective novels he loved. Ron Base's new novel, "The Sanibel Sunset Detective," is full of fast-paced action, humor, unexpected plot twists, and memorable characters. Steeped in the sun-drenched atmosphere of Sanibel and Captiva, two of Florida's most beautiful and unusual islands, this is the first in a series of Tree Callister adventures.

Private detective Tree Callister is in big trouble. For starters, a towering, baseball bat-wielding woman appears to be intent on killing him. Then the beautiful wife of a disgraced media mogul hires Tree because she believes her husband is trying to murder her. In fact, she may be trying to murder him. Added to that, Tree's son Chris unexpectedly appears, accompanied by his alluring wife, chased by a couple of thugs who want half a million dollars. Then there are the dead bodies that keep showing up every time Tree turns around. Not to mention the police who charge him with being an accomplice to one murder, and accuse him of committing another. And we won't even talk about what happens when Tree encounters a couple of hungry alligators. Ron Base's new mystery thriller, The Sanibel Sunset Detective Returns, is set against the gorgeous backdrop of Florida's Sanibel and Captiva Islands. It is as chock full of breath-taking action and unexpected plot twists as his previous Tree Callister novel, The Sanibel Sunset Detective.
The Sanibel Sunset Detective is back, more exciting than ever!

Welcome to Tree Callister's Sanibel Island... Meet some of his friends. THE MYSTERIOUS WOMAN. She tries to seduce Tree in Paris and Key West-and she may be trying to kill him on Sanibel Island. TWO SHADY CHARACTERS. A former director of the Pakistani Secret Service, Miram Shah, wants Tree to find his missing fiancée. Accused Serbian war criminal Javor Zoran has lost his true love. He insists Tree find her. Could both men be looking for the same woman? THE DOCTOR WITH A MACHETE. Actually, Dr. Edgar Bunya says the correct name for his machete is a cutlass. Dr. Edgar plans to use it to cut off Tree's hands. THE DEAD BODIES. From Key West to Useppa Island to Sanibel, Tree keeps stumbling across corpses. The cops don't like this one bit. His marriage is in jeopardy, his son is in trouble, his life is being threatened, and time is running out for Tree Callister in his most dangerous and action- packed adventure yet. There is Another Sanibel Sunset Detective, and it finds author Ron Base at his page-turning best!

Coming in November 2013
Joshua and Madison are pretty smart kids.
Except they have no idea what their father does for a living.
They suspect the worst.
That'’s where Private Detective Tree Callister comes in. Josh and Madi want him to find out what their father does, and why he keeps disappearing.
But Tree has problems of his own. Everyone on Sanibel Island thinks he'’s hiding nine million dollars that has gone missing.
The FBI is investigating him, the local cops are out to get him —and they are not happy that Tree keeps stumbling across dead bodies.
Then there is the diminutive couple that has no hesitation about killing anyone who gets in their way. Including Tree.

It’s looking as bad as it ever has for Tree Callister in his latest —and most deadly —adventure. And it’s only going to get worse.

Nothing Ever Happens on Sanibel Island
Part 1,
On the Beach

Nothing Ever Happens on Sanibel Island
Part 2,
At the Boat Dock

Nothing Ever Happens on Sanibel Island
Part 3,
"Fun Friday" at the Lighthouse Restaurant

Ron is interviewed on 680NEWS

“Hypnotic... A mysterious and intriguing page-turner.”
– George Anthony, By George blog

“A tale of cunning and deception with intrigue, high adventure and vivid characters.”
- Ray Bennett, UK critic, The Hollywood Reporter.

Fourteen-year-old Ned Arnheim’s father has been murdered, leaving him orphaned and penniless in the Paris of 1899.
He is taken in by a mysterious, enigmatic beauty named Mrs. Nevermore, international confidence woman and sorcière who at once intrigues and frightens him.
Ned believes he is blessed – or cursed – with a curious power called the Strange. If he concentrates hard enough, he can levitate, and move objects around.
This “power of the Strange” allows him to see into the Other World where lurk strange creatures known as gargoyles and, much to his irritation, a falcon named Peregrine who insists on talking to him.
When Mrs. Nevermore stumbles upon Ned’s sketches of the Eiffel Tower, they provide the inspiration for an audacious confidence scam that will make them rich – sell the Eiffel Tower!
Ned is appalled. He must somehow stop her. That sets off a cat-and-mouse game between Mrs. Nevermore and her unwilling protégée that leads from Paris, to London, to Vienna, and brings them into conflict with Mrs. Nevermore’s sworn enemies, a one-eyed beauty named Natalia Boyer, and her husband, the murderous Edmond Corbeau.
Ned must finally confront his demons atop the world’s highest tower following a series of adventures filled with magic and mystery, chases through rat-infested sewers, attacks by winged creatures out of a boy’s worst nightmares, not to mention that talking falcon. It’s all set against the glamorous, dangerous backdrop that is Paris on the verge of a new century.

An ingenious story with a macabre twist—inspired by a real-life event—lifts The Man Before Yesterday into to the realm of the extraordinary.
In Toronto, an English ex-pat businessman, Wallace, is drawn reluctantly into a Ouija board session whereupon he hears a confession from the grave that changes his life. For the glass spells, "I am a murderer".
Returning to England, Wallace encounters Loretta, a woman with whom he fell in love years ago. She has haunted his dreams and memories ever since. Now, unexpectedly, here she is back in his life again—although love the second time around is not quite what Wallace had in mind.
Meanwhile, Wallace's tortured dreams are invaded and interwoven with the dead person. Soon, his own past rises up to haunt him and Wallace falls victim to twin forces that propel him to a bizarre destiny.
Lionel Goldstein’s clever thriller is part detective story, part tale of the supernatural, always haunting and with unfulfilled love at its core. A totally original accomplishment on the part of Goldstein, unlike anything the reader has encountered before—a novel that will keep you guessing to the last page!

“A riveting and often most touching life story. It brings back great nostalgia for the good ol’ Sutton Place days when Hans was stylishly at the helm.”
Christopher Plummer, actor

Operating some of the world’s most famous and exclusive hotels exposed Hans Gerhardt to the private lives of kings and queens, world leaders and movie stars. He has been trapped on an elevator with a notorious dictator, cracked jokes with Prince Philip, drank expensive wine with Charlton Heston, helped Dudley Moore escape marauding Japanese tourists and Burt Reynolds woo Loni Anderson. David Carradine mooned him, Sophia Loren dazzled, The Queen Mother charmed, and Marlon Brando directed traffic during an early morning fire alarm. But HotelBiz: A Memoir is more than just a collection of fascinating anecdotes about famous people--although it is certainly that, too. It is a story of great triumph and of heart-rending tragedy: Hans for the first time tells how he lost his son Ralph in the attack on the World Trade Center Sept 11, 2001. Filled with insight, humor, and drama, Hans Gerhardt’s HotelBiz: A Memoir offers a unique window into one’s man’s adventure-filled life and the business he loves.

First published in Canada in 1986, "Life with Billy" told the story of Jane Hurshman, the Nova Scotia woman who after five years of severe abuse by her common-law husband Billy Stafford shot him to death while he was passed out drunk in the front seat of his half-ton truck. The jury acquitted Jane of murder, but the Crown appealed and won a new trial, this time accepting Jane`s manslaughter plea.
Though overturned on appeal, that not guilty verdict demonstrated that the public was ahead of the judicial system on the matter of criminal domestic violence and led to the acceptance of Battered Wife Syndrome as a defence in Canadian courts. >br> "Life with Billy" has become a non-fiction classic chronicling the legal battle that shocked, divided and ultimately enlightened a nation.