Skull Shot

In the resort town of Bend, Oregon, Andy Harris is mired in a brutal slump. For over a month he’s been grinding away, studying his golf books and magazines, playing and practicing more, but nothing seems to help. Fueling his panic is the upcoming club championship, when he has to square off against a questionable friend who employs an array of gamesmanship to disrupt him when they play. If he can’t fix his game by then, he’s not sure what he’ll do. Maybe swap his clubs for a bowling ball.

Four hundred miles away, Reno Homicide Detective Warren Sutter isn’t doing so well himself. First, there was the phone call from a good friend, whose son has disappeared. Then there’s his new partner, Robert Tensley, a naive rookie detective who has just transferred from public relations. Against his fervent objections, Warren is ordered to mold Robert into a competent detective as they pursue the missing person case.

The detectives soon suspect a homicide when their investigation leads to a crooked casino owner, but without more evidence, they can’t make an arrest. When the victim’s father learns this, he threatens to bring in someone who can get the job done. A few days later, a nameless stranger begins tailing the casino owner, confirming the father’s threat.

As the Reno detectives build a case for murder, the events there spill over to Bend, pulling Andy into a dangerous world of intrigue that might just hold the solution to his slump.