Redneck Detective Agency

Rusty Clay is having the worst day of his year-the anniversary of the disappearance of his sister Lola, whose taped alternative folk/classic concert has made her a cult figure. As he is falling into a dismal abyss, in walks one-armed Tooley. He wants Rusty to find his arm that he lost forty years ago. Soon, Tooley is found dead, killed Civil War Tory style. Later, a mussel diver dies in a diving accident. The man's widow Mina, with whom Rusty is infatuated, hires Rusty to help prove it wasn't suicide, so that she can collect on his life insurance. Rusty is sure the accident is tied with Tooley's murder and even connected with his sister's disappearance decades ago. He knows local multi-millionaire funeral home owner Jake Brubaker is behind it and it all hinges on a sunken Civil War paddle-wheeler with a cache of rare gold. Rusty and Mina must fight for their lives. And that they do with the help of Rusty's psychic Aunt Essie and her monkey Herman, Rusty's Cousin Ray, his District Attorney brother-in-law Sammy and his ex-lover Gloria Davenport. Gray River Blues is the second in The Redneck Detective Agency Trilogy. Phillip Quinn Morris was born in Limestone County, Alabama, in 1954. His father owned a small farm at the edge of town and a grocery store in town. Phillip worked at both while growing up and going to school. As a young adult, he moved to Miami-with a short stint in Ecuador-to pursue the writer's life. He has worked as a meat-cutter, engine-rebuilder, mussel diver and house painter.Phillip's first novel, MUSSELS, was published by Random House. It was followed with the publication of THIRSTY CITY. Both novels are now in print in French translation.Harry Crews called him "a talent to watch." The French Rolling Stone gave him a full page article concerning MISTER ALABAMA, the French title for MUSSELS.He now lives on the west coast of Florida.