GUILT STRIKES AT GRANGER'S STORE, the tenth Samuel Craddock mystery by Terry Shames, features the experienced Chief of Police in Jarret Creek, Texas. This was my first encounter with the gentleman and this is a police procedural tale.

Granger's Store is the only feed store in town. Samuel Craddock knows it well because he has a small herd of cattle.  The senior store owner Melvin Granger has had a stroke, so his son Mark came back from another town to help. Mark’s previous business venture closed during Covid. His sister Chelsea Hampton is also here, more involved with helping their mom take care of dad. Mark’s renovation plans gain complaints, even warnings, and eventually the store is set on fire. The firefighters discover a dead body in the back room. That’s actually just the start of their troubles.

Samuel is hindered in investigations. The officious Department of Public Safety sends officers to declare jurisdiction, even though they soon opt out of doing anything much – which annoyed me. Why would they make such a song and dance, when the chief has a record for competence? Besides that, Samuel’s girlfriend Wendy has a flighty daughter named Allison who phones a friend to say she had a car accident and is in jail in Mexico. Allison doesn’t get on with her mom. After some days of lawyers on phones, the deputy, Maria Trevino, volunteers to go to Mexico. This gets Maria out of the picture so Samuel is left with his capable young helper, Brick Freeman, who apparently is easy on the eyes which helps when interviewing ladies. And there’s Samuel’s friendly dog Dusty, who loves visiting headquarters to be fussed over by Maria and Brick.

So much of the absorbing and clever action, which is told in first person present tense, is just typical smalltown life. Someone’s goats or pigs got out. A car was dumped in the lake. A neighbour reports seeing something odd. Gossip says families had problems. Seems that if someone leaves town, rumours spread as to why – and then, people forget. Samuel has to dig up secrets that have been forgotten for thirty years. Melvin Granger is no longer able to talk, but other people connected with the case can, and I love seeing how Samuel puts together the pieces, visiting and revisiting people until their names become familiar and the puzzle pieces slip into place. Details matter, however, and I don’t think it’s credible that Samuel doesn’t write much down. 

Terry Shames now lives in California and writes about a town where she spent some of her childhood. GUILT STRIKES AT GRANGER’S STORE is well worth any crime fan’s time and contains social commentary and hard looks at human nature. I will definitely be visiting Jarret Creek, Texas, again, and I hope to see more of Maria next time.