Part of Mario Balzic Detective Mystery
First published 1987
Police Chief Mario Balzic is hunting pheasant with State Police Lieutenant Harry Minyon at the Rocksburg Rod and Gun Club when Minyon's dog attacks Balzic. The same dog then digs up a piece of human bone that bears clear marks of being chopped up. What starts as a routine hunting trip transforms into a criminal investigation as Balzic must determine who was dismembered and dumped at the club grounds. The discovery forces Balzic to navigate the complexities of a murder case while dealing with the politics of working alongside state police. Constantine places his seasoned protagonist in a situation where a moment of leisure becomes the catalyst for uncovering violence, testing Balzic's investigative skills and his ability to handle the darker aspects of human nature in small town Pennsylvania.
Genres: american-fiction, mystery, crime, adult, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, gritty, investigative, suspenseful
Tropes: murder-mystery, police-investigation, unlikely-discovery
Setting: Rocksburg, Pennsylvania, Rod and Gun Club
Period: 20th-century
156 pages · Paperback · David R. Godine Publisher
Content warnings: gore, murder, violence