53. A Desperate Place for Dying by William Scott Carter

(Pseudonym:  Jack Nolte)
Read on Audible
Audio read by Roy Grimsley
2012, Flying Raven Press
262 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished 8/31/17
Goodreads rating: 4.09 - 498 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Wet and windy Oregon coast, contemporary

First line/s:  "His real name was Anthony Bruzzi, but at his trial he told the judge that only his mother called him Anthony -- everybody else just called him Tony."

My comments:

If you like mystery series, here’s one you might not have heard of.  It’s pretty fast-paced.  Interesting, imperfect characters.  Constant surprises.  Dry humor.  This second in the series takes place about a year after the first, and has curmudgeon Garrison Gage dealing with a teenage girl he’s now guardian of, and some love-life problems he never thought he’d encounter again.  And the mystery is really good! ( I listened to this - read by Steven Roy Grimsley, who was terrific.)

Goodreads synopsis: 
     An old flame.
     A killer on the loose.
     A crazy cult on the rise.
     Nearly a year has passed since Garrison Gage became the reluctant guardian of a troubled teenage girl, but neither fatherhood nor the intervening months have improved his mood. His right knee is still mostly worthless. He still prefers to drink his bourbon alone. And even with a certain blonde bombshell a persistent part of his life, he still can't be bothered to buy a cell phone. Or any phone, for that matter. Why? Then somebody might call him.
     But grumpy as Gage can be, he still finds that life on the Oregon Coast has settled into a comfortable if not happy routine - until the man who murdered his wife shows up in town.
     That's just for starters. A desperate plea from an old flame - his first love, in fact - soon entangles Gage in a high profile case involving a famous and brazenly outspoken lecturer on evolution and atheism, a crazy fundamentalist cult that uses all means necessary to silence its critics, and a brutal local murder of a far more personal nature.
     Before the mystery can be unraveled, Gage's abilities and beliefs will be put to the ultimate test. And the man who claims he doesn't need anyone will discover he may just lose everything.