Wayne Zurl grew up on Long Island and retitred after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators.

He is a graduate of SUNY Empire State college and served on active duty in the Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves. Zurl left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of east Tennessee with his wife, Barbara.

Wayne has written and had published three full-length novels and fourteen novelettes, in the Sam Jenkins mystery series.

Reviewed by Paul J. for Readers' Favorite

Ex-NYPD Detective Sam Jenkins is now the Chief of Police for the Prospect, Tennessee Police Department. He and his team take on what looks to be a routine task, investigating all the civilians working for the Prospect Police Department. However, things don’t turn out exactly as expected. Preliminary inquiries reveal that Murray McGuire, who spent half of his life repairing office equipment for the small city of Prospect, didn't exist prior to 1975. But, Sam’s problems are only starting. After uncovering nothing but dead ends, things get even more disturbing when Murray is found lying face down in a Smoky Mountain creek bed. The death appears to be done - assassination style. Adding more to the mystery is a British passport for Murray, found in his house. Sam isn’t about to let this murder go unsolved. He immediately calls in favors from old friends and new acquaintances, a local FBI agent, a deputy director of the CIA, British intelligence services, and the Irish Garda. And then there is the young Irish beauty with a hidden past. Sam desperately needs to learn McGuire’s real identity and uncover the trail of an international killer. Is it simply a revenge killing, or something more?

"A Leprechaun’s Lament" is an excellent story in the cozy mystery genre. There is no strong language, sex or excessive violence. The plot is sound and interesting. The author’s characters are likeable and believable. Along with Sam are his two newly appointed Sergeants, Bettye Lambert, beautiful and smart, and as Desk Sergeant, the heartbeat of the Department, and Stanley Rose, ex-LAPD and as street smart as they come. Of course he has the full support of his lovely wife Kate and his best friend, Bitsey the dog. The author has taken an assortment of characters from all over the country and the world and woven them into a thoroughly enjoyable mystery. I look forward to the next installment of the 'Sam Jenkins Mystery Series'.