Rex Royale

“The serenity of far Northern California's Lake Britton (near the small town of Burney) is shaken by the discovery of two corpses in the lake by sport fishermen just before the Memorial Day weekend. Even though the bodies are discovered early in the book the first two chapters have the languid feel of ‘A River Runs Through It.’

Once the sheriff's investigation begins the pace quickens, violence ensues and the feel of the book shifts decidely. We meet the denizens of the Blue Tattoo bar and the secretive hunting lodge/firing range whose patron's love of guns is seemingly the strongest emotion in their lives along with preserving their secretive society. Small town social dynamics are fully on display. Several characters could be the killer and ‘Deliverance’ was the feeling evoked by their behaviour. The rest of the book has that gritty, scary feeling that no one is safe until the murders are solved.

We see the story unfold through journalists Tyler Bonnard and Hannah Bergren. Thrust together by necessity the development of their professional and then personal relationship follows a tension filled path.

Questions abound in the story and are finally resolved in a violent confrontation brought on by the journalistic curiosity of Hannah Bergren that reveals a closely guarded secret long harboured by a respected local citizen.

Rex Royale isn't a perfect read but the juxtaposition of bucolic Burney and the violence lurking just beneath the surface of a small town provide the canvas for an intriguing mystery.”
—Doug Kennedy, Reviewer