Bill Crider (1941-2018) lived in Texas all of his life. He taught college English to earn a living but mostly he read and wrote crime fiction. His most well-known work featured Sheriff Dan Rhodes who served and protected the citizens of Blacklin County, Texas, in 25 books between 1986 and 2019. Forty years after its first appearance the entire series is being reissued in ebook and audiobook with new cover art.

I first encountered Bill on the DorothyL discussion list where he sent me an email of thanks every time I mentioned one of his books. This courtesy in authors is rare and I was stunned. When I learned that he was a confirmed cat person, I knew I was a dedicated fan.

Bill gave me a juicy part in Dead, to Begin With (2017) when he was coping with the cancer that took him from us, even though he had far more important things to think about than an importunate fan. I have never forgotten his kindness and generosity.

See his website here: https://www.billcrider.com/ and his Pop Culture Magazine here: https://billcrider.blogspot.com/

Too Late to Die (Walker, 1986) is Sheriff Rhodes’ first appearance. This debut won the 1987 Anthony Award for Best First Novel and was shortlisted for the 1987 Macavity Award for Best First Novel. Blacklin County is sketched as a rural county with a failing economy. The county seat is Clearview, population some 6000 individuals, with smaller hamlets and towns surrounding it. Rhodes has minimal staff to work with. Two elderly gentlemen serve as office support while Rhodes and his deputies are dealing with the citizenry. Hack acts as dispatcher and Lawton is the jailer. Together they are a stand-up comedy team with Rhodes as their unwilling audience.

The usual workload of drunk driving and petty theft takes a serious turn when Jeanne Clinton, the much younger wife of Elmer Clinton, is murdered. Jeanne had been a little wild in her younger days but was thought to have settled down until Rhodes learns nearly every man living near her used to drop in for visits while her husband was at work. Then one of his deputies is accused of police brutality by a couple of nogoodniks, and a tiny grocery suffers its third burglary in a few weeks. He’s barely started identifying all of Jeanne’s visitors, i.e., potential suspects, when another murder occurs.

To make a very bad situation worse, it’s an election year and Rhodes is up for re-election. His opponent takes full advantage of the sudden crime spree to promote himself as the better candidate. Rhodes can’t be blamed for wondering if his competitor encouraged the ne’er-do-wells to claim brutality to embarrass Rhodes.

Details here and there remind me the story was written forty years ago. I had forgotten all about double-knit jeans. And I don’t know when I last saw Thousand Island salad dressing at a restaurant. I am not even sure I could find it in a grocery now.

The characters are rounded and original and the rural setting is skillfully evoked, but this is a mystery first and foremost. Solidly structured plot and evenly paced action. The pieces fall together slowly but inevitably in an unexpected resolution. Fans of traditional mysteries will love it.