Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Go Find Daddy by Steve Goble

Go Find Daddy by Steve Goble (Oceanview Publishing, July 2023) is the third book in the series about Ed Runyon, former detective in the Mifflin County, Ohio, sheriff’s office and now private investigator focusing on locating missing children. Runyon saw far too many cases of lost children shuffled around in the understaffed and overworked sheriff’s office and he set up shop on his own to concentrate on the problem. He takes whatever skip traces and background investigations necessary to pay the bills but any situation involving children gets his full attention.

When Amy Blackmon asks Runyon to find her husband, Runyon isn’t interested. Donny Blackmon is the subject of an intense months-long manhunt, suspected of killing Mifflin County Officer Brandon Gullick. Law enforcement personnel for miles around are looking for Blackmon and when he is found most of them will likely shoot first and ask questions later. Blackmon has been vocal about his dislike and distrust of the police and the criminal justice system in general, expressing his thoughts openly and thoroughly on his blog. Runyon doesn’t want anything to do with the Blackmon family until Amy explains that she needs him to tell her husband that their daughter was diagnosed with cancer after he disappeared. He needs to know that she is not likely to recover.

Runyon is devastated at the news and does not feel that he can refuse her request, although he’s not happy about it. He sets out on a cold trail and encounters hostile police officers, law enforcement representatives who think he knows more than he is telling, and bounty hunters anxious to claim the reward. It’s an ugly situation and gets worse when Runyon realizes that the homicide investigators overlooked some important evidence that points away from Blackmon as the killer.

Oceanview is developing quite an impressive roster of mystery authors. Matt Coyle, Patti Sheehy, T. J. O’Connor, James Ziskin, D. P. Lyle, Bonnar Spring, and James L'Etoile are all writers with whom I am familiar. I can add Ed Goble to the list now. Goble has put a fresh spin on the stock character of disenchanted law enforcement officer turned private investigator. The plot is effective and original, and its momentum is consistent and relentless. The descriptive bits about the countryside were a nice touch. This is a compelling read and I completed it in one sitting. For fans of private investigator books and of rural law enforcement crime fiction.

·         Publisher: Oceanview Publishing (July 11, 2023)

·         Language: ‎English

·         Hardcover: ‎320 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1608094472

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1608094479

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2023

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.