About this item
Towns like Gainesboro, North Carolina, may be small but go big on local traditions. When funeral director and part-time deputy sheriff Barry Clayton and his childhood nemesis, Archie Donovan, Jr., unite to create a fundraising float in Gainesboro's annual Apple Festival Parade, what could go wrong? With Archie involved - anything!First, the Grand Marshal, NC Secretary of Agriculture Graham James, is attacked by a gunman and Barry's Uncle Wayne is critically wounded in the melee. The assailant is killed. Then, when the body of a convenience store owner is discovered less than an hour later with the gunman's food stamp card in his wallet, the case escalates. Two men dead. What is the connection?Barry and Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins swiftly learn their small town offers no protection against big-time crime.
About the Author
A native of western North Carolina, Mark sets most of his mysteries in Asheville and the surrounding Appalachian mountains. In addition to his Sam Blackman and Barry Clayton series, Mark has written the political thrillers, THE 13th TARGET and THE SINGULARITY RACE, and two Young Adult mysteries: a thriller, A CONSPIRACY OF GENES, set in a children's hospital and an historical "locked-room" murder mystery, DEATH ON A SOUTHERN BREEZE, set on a train traveling from Charlotte to Charleston in the summer of 1860. Mark also has written the play "A DYING BUSINESS." two short stories, TWO OF A KIND, available for the Kindle, and the sci-fi thriller DOUBLE CROSS OF TIME set in 2030 when today's breaking scientific discoveries yield surprising and dangerous consequences. Check out the video section of his author page for a tour of Sam Blackman's Asheville, book trailers, and a preview of his latest Barry Clayton mystery, SECRET UNDERTAKING.
