The sixth Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery by Bill Crider, Booked for a Hanging, is my favorite in the series so far. It has to deal with a rare book dealer and a possible missing book. Just fits my taste.

When a rare book dealer from Houston, Hal Brame, shows up at the Blacklin County jail, he has a story about ghosts. He was meeting another dealer, Simon Graham, at the abandoned college that Graham bought and was restoring. When he went to Graham’s house, there was no one there, but he saw strange lights and heard noises in the main building. Rhodes accompanies Brame to the campus where he finds Graham hanging from the rafters. Maybe suicide. Rhodes suspects murder.

After he talks to Brame, he does suspect the man was murdered. Brame was meeting Graham there to discuss his discovery of a rare copy of Tamarlane and Other Poems by “A Bostonian”. The collection represents the first published work by Edgar Allan Poe, and Brame is eager to get his hands on it. So are two other people, Graham’s business partner, and the woman who handled his social life. None of them have seen the work, but they’re driven to find it.

While Rhodes investigates Graham’s death, he also has to juggle the other local crimes handled by a Texas county sheriff. There’s a herd of missing cows, a naked man who sleeps in a dumpster outside a restaurant, and someone is whiting out words in paperbacks at the library. But, it’s the death of a rare book dealer that attracts the attention of news reporters from all over the state. Two other murders will only make Rhodes’ investigation more difficult.

While Rhodes’ team at the jail, Hack Jensen and Lawton, are eager to utilize the new computers for investigation, Rhodes still believes talking to people will lead to the solutions to crimes. This is another excellent mystery from Crider. The crimes are realistic and interesting, while the characters always add a touch of humor. Booked for a Hanging is my favorite in the series so far.

Booked for a Hanging by Bill Crider. St. Martin’s Press, 1992. 202p.

FTC Full Disclosure – Library book