Can you really murder someone with a golf ball?
Former police officer turned private detective Davis Reed is taking refuge in the mountains of Cruso, North Carolina, after a run-in with a biker gang dealt him an unfavorable hand. When respected real estate agent Prentiss Wells is killed by an errant golf ball, Davis has no reason to suspect it wasn’t an accident. But then a wealthy couple hires him to prove the death was murder and catch the killer. In desperate need of cash, Davis takes the job.
While Davis investigates who had the motive to kill Prentiss, Elizabeth Harper, an accountant who stirs butterflies in Davis’s stomach, uncovers a tangled mess of shady real estate deals linked to Prentiss’s firm. As the case garners media attention, Davis must carefully navigate a minefield of secrets and lies.
With the help of his friend Dale Johnson, a local deputy whose mood changes with the wind, and Dale’s cousin Floppy, a mad-genius, motor-mouthed mechanic, Davis sets out to uncover a mystery that runs much deeper than he thinks.
Available October 15, 2024
A slow burn mystery that could only take place in the South.
Private detective Davis Reed didn’t move to Cruso, North Carolina looking for friends. Down on his luck, Davis narrowly escaped an anonymous attempt on his life and fled to the tiny mountain community in order to hide, brew his own beer, and put his detective days behind him to work on a non-fiction book. But as usual with Davis, things aren’t going to plan.
When he finds several keys on a mountain trail near the Blue Ridge Parkway, Davis sets out to locate the rightful owner. Upon discovering that one of the keys fits a vintage BMW owned by a man who’s recently vanished, Davis can’t help but think the keys unlock a mystery, or better yet, a chest full of gold rumored to be hidden somewhere among the mountains of western North Carolina.
But keys that could lead to lost gold are a hot commodity, and Davis needs to outsmart everyone from law enforcement officials to amateur treasure hunters who are willing to do anything to get their hands on them. To make matters worse, people from Davis’s past are catching up to him.
Along with his new best friend, Dale Johnson, a local deputy who knows just how to push Davis’s buttons, and Dale’s cousin Floppy, a mad genius mechanic armed with a heart of gold and a mouth that never stops moving, Davis tries desperately to find lost treasure, start a romance with a smooth talking brewery owner, and most importantly, stay alive.