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Baron Birtcher

A sheriff fighting to keep the peace in 1970s Oregon faces a shocking secret from his town’s past, in this crime thriller from the author of Reckoning.

 There are rules in the West no matter what era you were born in, and it’s up to lawman Ty Dawson to make sure they’re followed in the valley he calls home. The people living on this unforgiving land keep to themselves and are wary of the modern world’s encroachment into their quiet lives.

 So it’s not without some suspicion that Dawson confronts a newcomer to the region: a record producer who has built a music studio in an isolated compound. His latest project is a collaboration with a famous young rock star named Ian Swann, recording and filming his sessions for a movie. An amphitheater for a live show is being built on the land, giving Dawson flashbacks to the violent Altamont concert. Not on his watch.

 But even beefed up security can’t stop a disaster that’s been over a decade in the making. All it takes is one horrific case bleeding its way into the present to prove that the good ol’ days spawned a brand of evil no one wants to revisit . . .

Praise for the Ty Dawson Mysteries

 “The novel combines the mystery and honesty of Craig Johnson’s Longmire with the first-person narration of a fiercely independent Oregon character.” —Sheila Deeth, author of John’s Joy

 “A masterful work of a time gone by. . . . Ty Dawson is a cowboy, lawman, father and philosopher like none other.” —Neal Griffin, Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of The Burden of Proof

Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller

The Ty Dawson Mysteries

Knife River

Ty Dawson is a small-town sheriff with big-city problems, in this riveting crime thriller from the award-winning author of Fistful of Rain.

 As lawman, rancher, and Korean War veteran, Ty Dawson has his share of problems in the southern Oregon county he calls home. Despite how rural it is, Meriwether can’t keep modernity at bay. The 1970s have changed the United States—and Meriwether won’t be spared.

 A standoff looms when the US Fish & Wildlife Service seeks to separate longtime cattleman KC Sheridan from his water supply—ensuring the death of his livestock. If that’s not enough trouble, a Portland detective is found dead in a fly-fishing resort cabin. Though the Portland police, including the victim’s own partner, are eager to write off the tragedy as a suicide, Ty has his own thoughts on the matter—as well as evidence that points to murder. His suspicions soon mire him in a swamp of corruption that threatens nearly everyone around him. Turns out that greed and evil are contagious—and they take down men both great and small . . .

Praise for the Ty Dawson Mysteries

 “Combines the mystery and honesty of Craig Johnson’s Longmire with the first-person narration of a fiercely independent Oregon character.” —Sheila Deeth, author of John’s Joy

 “A masterful work of a time gone by . . . Ty Dawson is a cowboy, lawman, father and philosopher like none other.” —Neal Griffin, Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of The Burden of Proof

Reckoning

“The novel combines the mystery and honesty of Craig Johnson’s Longmire with the first-person narration of a fiercely independent Oregon character.” —Sheila Deeth, author of John’s Joy
 
Winner of the 2018 Killer Nashville Readers’ Choice Award
2017 Foreword Indies Finalist for Historical
 
 A Korean War veteran, Ty Dawson finds refuge running his family’s cattle ranch, the Diamond D, one of the largest in Oregon—and there’s no place he’d rather be. But in 1973, the country falls into turmoil with the last soldiers returning from Vietnam, the stand-off at Wounded Knee, and the ongoing Watergate scandal. And it isn’t long before Ty finds his own peace and quiet shattered by outside forces.
 
 A string of mysterious cattle deaths leads to the murder of a cowhand, but that’s just the beginning. News leaks that the Bureau of Land Management plans on a wild horse slaughter, which brings protestors and news cameras to the area, not to mention a violent biker gang known as the Charlatans. Overwhelmed, the sheriff appoints Ty as undersheriff. And as events spiral out of control, Ty must take matters into his own hands to protect his family, his land, and his way of life . . . 
 
“A masterful work of a time gone by. Birtcher possesses a rare skill that is the envy of many a writer. He deftly employs literary prose to reveal the life of a hard-driven man. Ty Dawson is a cowboy, lawman, father and philosopher like none other.” —Neal Griffin, Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of The Burden of Proof
 
“[A] fast-moving series launch . . . Birtcher takes readers on an exciting ride.” —Publishers Weekly

South California Purples

The second Sheriff Dawson mystery has “lots of twists and turns that stretch back over years, then a mind-blowing ending that puts everything into place” (Killer Nashville).
 
Winner—2019 Best Book of the Year, Killer Nashville
 
 Ty Dawson, now the sheriff of Oregon’s Meriwether County, is ready to put a trying year behind him, but he’s afforded no such luck. In a country still coming to grips with the Vietnam War, Watergate, and Charles Manson, Ty’s neck of the woods isn’t safe from the turmoil—especially when a commune of young so-called hippies springs up out of nowhere . . .
 
 A longtime local sheep rancher accuses the Rainbow Ranch residents of livestock theft, putting Ty in the middle of a culture clash. Though Ty finds no evidence of a crime, the rancher brings in his own stock detective. Behind fences topped with razor wire, the commune and its enigmatic guru hold secrets of their own—many of which have nothing to do with peace, love, and understanding. Tensions flare, setting off a bloody wave of violence that will forever scar the place Ty calls home, unless he can stop it.
 
“Elegantly written . . . Ty may strike some readers as almost too smart, too well educated, and too pedantic for a small-town sheriff, but his insights into 1970s social issues make him an irresistible spokesman for the era.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“A modern Western . . . The characters are well developed, and place descriptions make it easy to visualize the landscapes.” —New York Journal of Books