Shoot the Dog: A Virgil Cain Mystery (Virgil Cain Mysteries)

"In upstate New York, Virgil Cain is drawing hay behind his team of massive Percherons when two movie scouts show up and offer $500 a day to use the horses in a film to be shot in the area. Virgil, in need of cash, reluctantly pockets the money, but he soon finds the chaotic set of Frontier Woman to be more trouble than it's worth. Savvy producer Sam Sawchuk is in over her head; when she's not propping up her talent-challenged husband-cum-director, she's trying to keep tabs on a new investor, the Native American casino owner Ronnie Red Hawk, a rambling egomaniac with designs on an infamous starlet. When the film's leading lady turns up dead, Virgil discovers that more is at stake than the carnal interests of a casino magnate and the production of a major motion picture. And although he'd rather leave the whole bunch to stew in their own juices, he realizes he needs to step in before a charming ten-year-old actress named Georgia becomes the next victim."-- From dust jacket flap From a writer who "rivals Elmore Leonard at his best" ( Publishers Weekly ) comes the third novel in the Virgil Cain series—a riveting story that opens with the discovery of the body of a movie star near the Hudson River. In upstate New York, Virgil Cain is drawing hay behind his team of massive Percherons when two movie scouts show up and offer $500 a day to use the horses in a film to be shot in the area. Virgil, in need of cash, reluctantly pockets the money, but he soon finds the chaotic set of Frontier Woman to be more trouble than it's worth. Savvy producer Sam Sawchuk is in over her head; when she's not propping up her talent-challenged husband-cum-director, she's trying to keep tabs on a new inves­tor, the Native American casino owner Ronnie Red Hawk, a rambling egomaniac with designs on an infamous starlet. When the film's leading lady turns up dead, Virgil discovers that more is at stake than the carnal interests of a casino magnate and the production of a major motion picture. And although he'd rather leave the whole bunch to stew in their own juices, he realizes he needs to step in before a charming ten-year-old actress named Georgia becomes the next victim. In upstate New York, Virgil Cain's draft horses are pulling hay in the fields when two film scouts offer him $500 a day for their use in a film. He pockets the money, but the chaotic set of Frontier Woman turns out to be more trouble than its worth. Producer Sam Jonson clearly has her heart in the wrong place with her husband-cum-director Robb, who costs her a major financier, not to mention the Native American casino owner Ronnie Red Hawk, who has a vested interest in an alternate leading lady. After oneand then a secondyoung woman is found dead, Virgil discovers that more is at stake than the interests of a casino magnateand hed better step in before the charming ten-year-old actress Georgia ends up the next victim of this deadly production. Smith has a marvelous control of his material, effortlessly mixing laugh-out-loud comedy with streaks of country noir ( Booklist ), and he is a writer to watch, a comet on the horizon (Dennis Lehane). Virgil Cain Rents His Draft Horses To A Film Crew Only To Discover The Director's Irresponsible Nature And A Casino Owner's Agenda To Replace The Film's Star, A Situation That Is Further Complicated By Two Murders.