Of All Sad Words

DOWN-HOME DEAD

What are the Crawford brothers cooking up in their trailer in the middle of Blacklin County? Sheriff Dan Rhodes receives a complaint that it's meth, a growing menace in the East Texas woods, and a likely culprit when the trailer explodes and one of the siblings is found dead.

To his surprise, Rhodes discovers a still with a fresh batch of moonshine, and clear evidence the explosion was no accident. And he's not buying the surviving brother's innocence act.

But the crime wave is just beginning. Radical newcomers with decidedly controversial politics fan the flames, as do trails of a drug ring and possible vigilantes enrolling as students in Rhodes's own political headache, the Citizens' Sheriff's Academy. Another body, another hooch operation and a whiny county commissioner all add up to a mystery that will test Rhodes's cool head and unfailing humor to their limits.