Guilt Trip: A Blanco County, Texas, Novel

As funny as it is suspenseful, Rehder's fourth Blanco County mystery (after Flat Crazy) gets off to a fast start when his returning protagonist, game warden John Marlin, is called in to lead the search for a missing SUV owner feared drowned in a flash flood. Almost simultaneously, a local lowlife's house goes up in flames in what appears to be a meth-related explosion. Marlin suspects that the two incidents are somehow connected, and it isn't long before he finds out he's right-and that these events also involve his old friend Phil Colby, a rancher whose opposition to fencing in game on his land has incurred the anger of more than a few of his hunting neighbors. Rehder spices up his Texas-set mystery with other unsavory ingredients: a missing Corvette, a would-be country star turned hit man and a blackmailed state senator who favors unusual outfits during otherwise matter-of-fact sexual encounters. Well-paced, smartly plotted, full of memorable Hill Country denizens and crackling dialogue, this is diverting fun.