Charles Thayer, an Amazon best-selling mystery writer, blends fifty years of banking, corporate, and investment experience with his contemporary financial mysteries. The Paradox Murder Mysteries were born during a post-retirement cruise on his custom lobster boat from Florida to Maine and, today, Charles enjoys summers cruising the coast of Maine with his wife, Molly, and their rescue dog, Scupper.

Charles invented Steve Wilson to investigate fraud, cybercrime, money laundering, and murder. Amanda, a fictional FBI Agent, joins Steve to help solve each ‘stand-alone’ mystery. Steve may find himself in danger, but don’t expect to meet another ‘tough guy’ out to save the world. He’s a retired banker facing clever people willing to commit murder to hide their complex financial crimes.

Charles and Molly's favorite towns and marinas from Maine to The Bahamas provide the settings for Steve and Amanda’s adventures. Steve’s boat and many of the local people and businesses described in these stories are real. As a result, unlike many novels, these stories include maps and photos to help set the stage as you join Steve and Amanda to unravel their next mystery.

Highlights of Thayer's fifty-year business career include:

> Chairman of Chartwell Capital Ltd: Provided advisory services to board members and executive management of commercial banks, corporations, and institutional investors.

> Chairman of the American Association of Bank Directors from 2007 until 2013 and served as Chairman Emeritus until 2019.

> Lead Director of MainSource Financial Group [NASDAQ] in 2016, a banking institution with locations in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky. Served on the MainSource board of directors from 2011 until May 2017. MainSource was acquired by First Financial Corporation in 2018.

> Designated a Board Leadership Fellow by the National Association of Corporate Directors in 2016 and served on the faculty for the NACD Masters Class.

> Board of Trustees of the national Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Washington, DC, for 37 years. [1980 - 2017].

> Board of Directors of Republic Bancshares [NASDAQ], one of Florida's largest independent commercial banks, from 1999 until BB&T acquired Republic in 2004.

> Board of Directors of CogenAmerica [NASDAQ], an independent power producer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1996 until its sale to Calpine in 1999.

> Board of Directors of Sunbeam Corporation [NYSE] from 1990 until 1997. Elected Chairman & CEO in January 1993 to provide interim management until the election of a new CEO in August 1993.

> Twenty-year career in commercial banking prior to organizing Chartwell Capital in 1990:

Executive Vice President of PNC Financial [NYSE] with management responsibility for finance, merger and acquisitions, investor relations, strategic planning, and PNC's capital markets subsidiary.

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Citizens Fidelity [NASDAQ], Kentucky's largest banking institution, prior to its acquisition by PNC in 1986.

January 2024