Ice on the Grapevine is a traditional mystery featuring Hunter Rayne, a retired homicide detective turned long haul truck driver. The story opens on a July morning with the discovery of a frozen corpse at a brake check just south of the Grapevine Pass in L.A. County.  Hunter, who is in southern California making a delivery, is persuaded by his irascible dispatcher, Elspeth Watson, to help clear two fellow truck drivers who are arrested for the murder.  His job is made more difficult by the fact that the suspects, a newlywed couple, won’t speak up in their own defence.
The circumstantial evidence is strong, and a rookie detective from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is eager to score a win.  The investigation crosses the Canada-U.S. border when the victim is identified as a second rate musician from Vancouver, and it turns out there were more than a few desperate people happy to see him dead, including the accused couple.  Hunter has to use all his investigative skills to uncover the truth.
Hunter’s ex-wife maintains that by taking to the highway Hunter is running away from his past, but he believes that the solitude of days on the road is helping him to heal from guilt over the failure of his marriage and the suicide of his best friend.  His life gets more complicated when he feels an unwelcome attraction for a lawyer representing one of the accused.
Tangled relationships and multiple suspects emerge throughout the novel, as Hunter butts heads with more than one officer of the law to solve the crime.

Ice on the Grapevine was a finalist for the 2012 Global Ebook Award in Mystery Fiction.

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“Ice on the Grapevine: A Hunter Rayne Highway Mystery is a tense murder mystery featuring tough-minded ex-homicide detective turned eighteen-wheel truck driver Hunter Rayne. … [It] is a riveting mystery that will keep the reader guessing to the very end.”  – Midwest Book Review

This is a well spun yarn, full of plot detail and credible human response.
Whodunit addicts will not be disappointed. – The Kindle Book Review

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BUY THIS BOOK IN THE PRINT EDITION from Proud Horse Publishing or ask your local bookstore to order it for you.  (ISBN 978-0-9881118-13)

Digital editions available from the following ebook retailers:

Amazon,  Barnes & Noble, Kobo,  Sony , Smashwords, iBookstore , Diesel  or Baker-Taylor

Wholesale inquiries please contact Proud Horse Publishing at ProudHorsePublishing@gmail.com for information.  Books are available through Ingram (ISBN 978-0-9881118-13).

Reviewers: review copies can be requested from ProudHorsePublishing@gmail.com.

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“Those were the best mysteries I’ve read in a long time!! As soon as I finished the first one I bought the second and felt empty when I finished it! The characters were awesome and so there that I somehow think they are in my life and I should be bumping into them at IGA or Gibson’s Building Supplies! … I can hardly wait for the next one.”

Judi H., Roberts Creek, B.C.

“Ice on the Grapevine will keep you guessing.  Great trucking detail, hardboiled characters, no-nonsense dialogue, and a surprise ending.  If you enjoy mysteries, you’ll like Ice on the Grapevine.”

Marc Mayfield, Northern California

“One of the fine traditional mysteries that keep who-done-it on everyone’s favorite reading lists.”

Nash Black, Jamestown, KY (author of SANDPRINTS OF DEATH)