BETWEEN THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

Another passing strange case for the sheriff of Blacklin County, Texas.

Sheriff Dan Rhodes is dealing with two squabbling deputies and a friend with plans to go into the paranormal investigation business. Meanwhile, an anonymous phone call sends him to the derelict house of a former teacher who was found dead inside many years ago. The Moore house is reputed to be haunted, but Rhodes doesn’t believe in ghosts. He does believe in dead bodies, and inside he finds that of Neil Foshee, a meth maker from over the county line. Neil’s business included two of his cousins, Louie and Earl, neither of them the brightest bulb in the box. The pair, out on bail, take off when Rhodes pays them a visit. Pursued by Rhodes and his deputy, Buddy, they head for the woods, where the hapless Earl is run over by a herd of feral hogs and has to be hospitalized. A closer look at the Moore house reveals a skeleton in an attic closet. Although Rhodes still denies the existence of ghosts, every time he enters the house he feels that he’s being watched. Although there are quite a few suspects in Foshee’s murder, Rhodes gradually eliminates the obvious and finds that he has to dig deep to unearth a possible connection between the latest murder and what happened in the past.

Like the rest of Crider’s long string of Dan Rhodes novels (Half in Love with Artful Deaths, 2014, etc.), the latest keeps you guessing and chuckling.