A Reckoning
in the Back Country: A Samuel Craddock Mystery. Terry Shames. Prometheus Books.
January 2018. 272 pp. ISBN#: 9781633883673.
A relatively new resident, a
neurologist from San Antonio, is vacationing in Jarret Creek, Texas, with his
wife. They are intending to become permanent residents but suddenly he is
reported missing by his wife. While she
seems upset about this disappearance, Acting Police Chief Samuel Craddock
senses something not quite right in her nervous appearance and shifty
looks. All of this is aggravated when
her husband’s dead body is found. He has
been gruesomely mutilated by what looks like an animal attack.
The plot centers around dog
fighting, a “sport” this reviewer is not familiar with. Readers will learn more than they want to
about how these fights are organized, the training involved, the role of other
dogs as what one can only call “bait.”
One also finds out that the murdered victim was running away from the
shame of a malpractice case and has an addiction of gambling that’s far beyond
wagers other gamblers are willing to accept.
The investigation itself
involves Craddock interviewing people who knew the doctor and people who know
about the rumors of dog fights. While
there’s a bit much of repetitive questions, Craddock keeps the investigation
moving with some characters being threatened and others being attacked as the
conclusion draws near.
Craddock finds that the victim
owned a boat; but when he hires someone to look for the missing boat, nothing
is found. Why did the marina owner fail
to conduct the search Craddock asked for?
Add to the mix a very slowly
moving romance that is a nice counter-balance to the intensity of the crime and
its perpetrators. The Craddock mysteries
have just enough tension to keep the reader interested, without being
overbearing. Nicely done, again, Terry
Shames!
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