[Ron Ketchum Mystery 03] • Impaled

Ron Ketchum gets a nighttime phone call from Clay Steadman, movie icon and the man who saved Ron’s career as a cop. Clay says he’s dying and wants to ask Ron for a favor or two before he goes.

Ron races through a Sierra Nevada blizzard to Clay’s house, but he’s too late. Clay is already dead. Someone has driven a wooden stake through Clay’s heart. Impaled him.

Things get even more macabre. Marlene Flower Moon, Clay’s production partner on his latest film, slips past a police guard and enters the murder scene. She sniffs the body, picking up the killer’s scent in the most literal way.

If that’s not enough, an earthquake hits, triggering a number of avalanches. Ron hopes Mother Nature has trapped the killer in Goldstrike, the mountain resort town where he’s now mayor.

Maybe she has. Because a screenwriter Clay talked to about collaborating with him on his final script soon turns up dead. So now there are two murder cases to solve.