A MAMMOTH MURDER
by Bill Crider
Just because Bigfoot is nonexistent doesn’t mean pursuing him isn’t dangerous.
Reminding residents of Blacklin County, TX, about the day Bud Turley appeared in Sheriff Dan Rhodes’s office with a big tooth he claimed was Bigfoot’s always gets a laugh. After all, who could take a redneck like Turley seriously? Who could take any of the Bigfoot sightings seriously, especially after the mammoth tooth in question turned out to belong to an actual mammoth? Things are about to become more serious, though. Larry Colley, Bud’s best friend and fellow Bigfoot hunter, is found with the back of his head smashed in. Lured from his beloved bologna sandwiches and his fixation with Dr. Pepper formulations past and present, Sheriff Rhodes stirs himself to action at his patented poky pace. Soon there’s another murder to challenge his laid-back ratiocinative powers. Are the two murders connected? Yup. Are they Bigfoot- or mammoth-connected? Nope. Both are linked to the years-ago murder of young Ronnie Bolton, one of the few homicides the sheriff never solved. Though slowed by the bad behavior of members of the local Bigfoot society, a sneaky and painful assault on his person and unwelcome visits from indigenous feral hogs, Blacklin County’s Columbo eventually cracks his 13th case.
To call Sheriff Rhodes low-key is an understatement. Not for the somnolent.