A Reckoning in the Back Country
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
Acting Police Chief Samuel Craddock investigates the murder of a visiting physician, whose mangled body is found in the woods. When Lewis Wilkins, a physician with a vacation home in Jarrett Creek, is attacked by vicious dogs, and several pet dogs in the area around Jarrett Creek disappear, Police Chief Samuel Craddock suspects that a dog fighting ring is operating in his territory. He has to tread carefully in his investigation, since lawmen who meddle in dog fighting put their lives at risk. The investigation is hampered because Wilkins is not a local. Craddock’s focus on the investigation is thrown off by the appearance of a new woman in his life, as well as his accidental acquisition of a puppy. Digging deeper, Craddock discovers that the public face Wilkins presented was at odds with his private actions. A terrible mistake led to his disgrace as a physician, and far from being a stranger, he has ongoing acquaintances with a number of county residents who play fast and loose with the law.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Shames's enjoyable seventh Samuel Craddock mystery (after 2017's An Unsettling Crime for Samuel Craddock), the Jarrett Creek, Tex., police chief investigates the killing of Lewis Wilkins, a San Antonio doctor who owns a local vacation home. When area pets begin to disappear and Craddock discovers evidence that Wilkins's death was murder by canine, he suspects the existence of a dogfighting ring, but a ruinous lawsuit, a troubled family, and the deceased's habit of cheating at high-stakes gambling provide alternate motives for the doctor's death. Meanwhile, Craddock's personal life grows complicated when Thanksgiving festivities bring a reunion between his romantic interest, Ellen Forester, and her ex-husband and a charming new woman into the police chief's life. Craddock's discovery of an abandoned puppy offers readers insight into his softer side. Readers new to the series will find themselves quickly at home in Jarrett Creek.)
