“The Carl Hiaasen of the Carolinas returns with a new Davis Reed tale and readers should rejoice.”
-Peter Farris, award-winning author of The Devil Himself
Prentiss Wells is dead. The much-respected real estate attorney gave up the ghost in a sand trap on the sixteenth hole of a rural North Carolina golf course. The cause? According to witnesses, an errant golf shot hit by someone who fled the scene before being identified. The death is ruled an accident, and Davis Reed, a down-on-his-luck private detective, sees no reason to disagree. But things get complicated when a wealthy, mystery-loving couple named Vance and Lana Roth offer Davis five thousand dollars to prove Wells’ death was a murder and nab the killer. The catch? Davis must partner with the Roths and include them in every step of the investigation. In desperate need of cash, Davis accepts the deal, but he can’t help but wonder if the Roths know something he doesn’t or if they just have more money than sense.
Meanwhile, Rusty Baker, a drug runner with the Steel Stooges biker gang, has just been released from prison and is aiming to make good on his promise to avenge his father’s death, a self-defense killing in which Davis played a leading role. And then there’s Elizabeth Harper, a fifty-something, no-nonsense CPA, who, along with discovering some shady real estate deals linked to Prentiss Wells’ firm, is also stirring the butterflies in Davis’ stomach.
Along with his friend and landlord, Dale Johnson, an ornery deputy whose mood changes with the wind, and Dale’s cousin Floppy, a hundred-pound motormouth mechanic who’s part mad genius and part scratch you can’t itch, Davis tries to avoid Rusty’s wrath while working to unravel a mystery that’s knotted up tighter than he could have ever imagined.
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Advance Praise for Buried Lies
“Steven Tingle’s sharp and witty PI, Davis Reed, is back and as refreshing to read as ever. I relished the rollercoaster that is Buried Lies like PI Reed does his guacamole and chips.”
-David Swinson, bestselling author of The Second Girl and Sweet Thing
“Steven Tingle crafts a love letter to his roots in my kind of crime novel—peppered with characters that zing, a bloodhound protagonist with a nose for mischief (and IPA’s), wry humor, clever plotting and a mystery that sucks you in like a sand trap at St. Andrews. Buried Lies is a breath of fresh air in the dreadfully serious southern noir scene, a terrifically fun and engrossing jackpot that will keep you guessing between trips to the fridge for another cold one.”
-Peter Farris, award-winning author of The Devil Himself
“A colorful crime yarn that goes down easy.”
-Kirkus Reviews
“If you're not yet acquainted with the eviscerating humor of Davis Reed, the self-deprecating traffic-cop-turned-aspiring-writer-turned-PI of Graveyard Fields, I suggest you catch up. In Buried Lies, Steven Tingle brings his signature absurdity, hilarious metafictional winks, and smart slapstick to another over-the-top whodunnit. Death by golf ball, financial fraud, ceramic tchotchkes--there's a Tingle gift on every page.”
-Chris Harding Thornton, author of Pickard County Atlas and Little Underworld
“Buried Lies is a top-notch whodunnit, combining the intricate mystery of a Chandler novel with the knee-slapping wit of Joe Lansdale.”
-Scott Blackburn, author of It Dies with You
“Graveyard Fields is right down my alley. If you don't have a blast reading this book, I really can't help you."
-Ace Atkins, New York Times Bestselling author
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.
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Praise for Graveyard Fields
“Tingle deftly evokes both a very particular sense of place and his hero’s irritated inability to finish anything he starts.”
-Kirkus Reviews
“[Tingle’s] flawed, but still likable protagonist, Davis Reed, narrates and moves the story with wit and pedal to the metal.”
-David Swinson, author of The Second Girl
“[Tingle] takes an inept cop turned equally incompetent private investigator, stomps him into the ground, and turns all of his actions into a tragic comedy. I don’t know when I felt so frustrated with a character, and ended up laughing and rooting for him.”
-Lesa’s Book Critiques
“. . . a smart, redemptive, and cackle-provoking debut.”
-Chris Harding Thornton, author of Pickard County Atlas
“Steven Tingle’s debut is that rare example of rural noir with a sense of humor that wouldn’t be entirely out of place in an English village mystery.”
-CrimeReads
“The unconventional heroes of this debut are exaggerated, awkward characters in a story that progresses from tragedy to dark humor.”
-Library journal
“Steven Tingle possesses a smooth and lyrical cadence that will keep you rolling through the pages of Graveyard Fields like a pick-up joyriding across the North Carolina landscape.”
-Michael Farris Smith, author of Desperation Road and Nick
About Steven
Steven Tingle is a former Certified Golf Course Superintendent (CGCS) and the former general manager of the western North Carolina golf course that his parents built in the late 1960’s and operated for several decades. After leaving the golf industry in 2008 (not by choice; his mother fired him), Steven turned to writing, and his work has appeared in various national and regional magazines. Steven’s debut novel, Graveyard Fields, was published by Crooked Lane Books in 2021. He lives in Upstate South Carolina with his wife, Jess.
Contact Steven
Representation
Miriam Kriss
IGLA
27 West 24th St.
Suite 804
New York, NY 10010
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