As the Crow Dies

A bookish police detective and his roller-derby-star partner investigate a quirky mystery involving superintelligent animals, government conspiracy… and murder. When a body is found in the River Arts District of Asheville, North Carolina, the man on the case is police lieutenant Ira Segal, recently returned to semi-active status after being shot in the line of duty. Segal, who carries Elmore Leonard paperbacks as security blankets, isn’t sure he’s up to investigating a murder, and neither is his partner, military veteran and local roller derby star Sgt. Dinah Dinosaur Rudisill. Segal discovers that the victim worked for the mysterious start-up company Creatures 2.0, which trains animals to acquire uncanny capabilities. Creature 2.0’s eccentric founder, Francis Elah, has gone missing, and no one can find him, not even Elah’s top client, the Office of Naval Intelligence. As Segal and Rudisill investigate the murder and Elah’s disappearance, they encounter the bizarre animals Elah trained, including a raccoon who rolls cigarettes, pigeons who follow a priest to church, and a superintelligent crow named Richard. And when their investigation leads to a shadowy paramilitary organization, more murders, and a threat to the president, Segal and Rudisill don’t know who to trust and face a dangerous confrontation. Witty, engaging and fast paced, As the Crow Dies is a mystery that veers from the norm in unexpectedly delightful ways. AUTHOR: Kenneth Butcher is the author of In the Middle of the Air (2009), which won the Ben Franklin and Independent Publisher Awards, and The Dream of St. Ursula (2014).