Sunday, July 10, 2011

Pg. 69: Bill Crider's "The Wild Hog Murders"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Wild Hog Murders by Bill Crider.

About the book, from the publisher:
Like most of the rest of Texas, Blacklin County is being overrun with feral hogs that destroy farmland and crops. There’s hardly any defense against these pests, but they haven’t been the cause of murder. Until now. A mother and son have opened an animal shelter in the county and they welcome even feral hogs. Someone’s threatened them by slaughtering one of their animals and leaving it on their doorstep. Then Sheriff Dan Rhodes and Deputy Ruth Grady stumble across a dead man while searching the woods for a convenience store robber.

The investigation into the man’s death is complicated by angry hog hunters, a crusading talk-show host, a bounty hunter named Hoss, conflicts with the county commissioners, and the reappearance of Rapper and Nellie, the inept two-man motorcycle gang that’s caused Rhodes considerable trouble in the past. By the time he’s sorted through all the clues, Rhodes discovers that quite a few people aren’t who they seemed to be, including those he’s known for a long time. And some of them are killers.

Award-winning author Bill Crider has written an endearing and consistently entertaining series, and The Wild Hog Murders offers a fresh new chance to get in on the fun.
Learn more about the book and author at Bill Crider's website and blog.

Read the Page 69 Test entries for Crider's A Mammoth Murder, Murder Among the OWLS, Of All Sad Words, Murder in Four Parts, and Murder in the Air, as well as an excellent write-up about Dan Rhodes on the big screen at "My Book, The Movie."

The Page 69 Test: The Wild Hog Murders.

--Marshal Zeringue