The Books
Terror Near Town
An accidental fire or a murderous arson?—that’s the question for Chet Harbison, fresh back from the Spanish-American War. The 20-year-old Rough Rider returns to his rural Missouri farm riding a tall, lanky horse that had only known a life of torture before being rescued by the war-weathered soldier. Three neighbors died in the horrendous fire with only a 17-year-old girl barely escaping with her life—and a faded memory. She and Chet soon discover both their lives remain in danger and his combat training is their only chance for survival.
Tough Times in Grubville
Thirty years have passed since the harrowing events of Terror Near Town, and Chet Harbison’s world is is modernizing way too fast for him. The Great Depression has closed the banks, taking the newly earned money from his livestock sales. Chet is forced to wear a deputy’s badge and answer to a sheriff with questionable ethics. Soon, he is investigating cattle thefts, speakeasies, moonshiners, gangsters and the murder of an old friend.
Sheriff without a Badge
Newly elected Sheriff Chet Harbison has found that politics can be more harrowing than law enforcement, with two county office holders attempting to control his efforts and another doing everything possible to get him fired. While juggling the many responsibilities of a husband and father on top of his job as a sheriff, Chet encounters an uprising outside his jail, a lynching, and continuous reports of moonshining that cause havoc in the county.
If that was not enough, Chet soon discovers that someone in the community wants him dead, but who is it that wants to end Chet’s new career with the help of a bullet?
Murder at Morse Mill
Does Sheriff Chet Harbison have a checkered past? Is he really a man of low morals and a cold-blooded killer? Some may think so after reading a salacious novel. But Chet’s too busy trying to put a habitual livestock thief behind bars and solving the poisoning of a prominent cattle baron. Those matters make Chet's own backstory seem trivial when everything comes to a head with a gruesome murder at the historic Morse Mill Hotel.
Death in Dittmer
Chet Harbison appears to be “off his mark” following escapee Dr. Michael Bryant’s unsuccessful attempt to kill members of the lawman’s family and friends at a Christmas gathering. Now, the Jefferson County, Missouri, Sheriff has his hands full with the first two murders of 1931. Although the crimes are related, too much doesn’t add up. Lack of evidence, an unexpected confession, and questionable alibis, push the investigation in different directions—all while Chet and those close to him face their own personal anxieties following the Christmas night attack.
