The Dead Certain Doubt: An Ed Earl Burch Novel (Book 4, Ed Earl Burch Crime Thrillers)

Revenge, Guilt, Redemption & Gunsmoke When Doubt Is Your Only Friend Ed Earl Burch, a cashiered Dallas murder cop, is a private detective facing the relentless onslaught of age, bad choices, guilt and regret. Smart, tough, profane and reckless, he's a survivor who relies on his own guts and savvy and expects no help or salvation from anybody. But he's also a man who longs for the sense of higher calling he felt when he carried a homicide detective's gold shield. He seeks redemption and a chance to make amends to a dying old woman he abandoned decades ago when she needed him most. When he sees her again, she has the same request -- save her granddaughter from the vicious outlaws on her trail and bring her home for a final goodbye. Easier said than done because the granddaughter is a hardened hustler and gunrunner, hellbent on avenging a lover who got chopped up and stuffed into a barbecue smoker by cartel gunsels and a rival smuggler. To fulfill the old woman's last request, Burch heads back to the borderlands of West Texas on a mercy mission that plunges him into a violent world of smugglers, cartel killers, crooked lawmen, Bible-thumping hucksters, anti-government extremists and an old nemesis who wants to see him dead. The odds are long and Burch has his doubts -- about himself, the granddaughter, old friends and the elusive nature of grace from guilt. Truth be told, doubt is the only thing he's dead certain of. Grace Or a Desert Grave? Ed Earl Burch, a cashiered Dallas murder cop, is a private detective facing the relentless onslaught of age, bad choices, guilt and regret. He's a man who longs for the clarity and sense of higher calling he felt when he carried the gold shield of a homicide detective. And he seeks redemption and a chance to make amends with an old woman he abandoned when she needed him most — to save her reckless granddaughter from drug addiction, sexual abandon and an abusive father with the money and malevolent power only a crime lord can wield. When Burch visits her decades later, she has the same request — save her granddaughter and bring her home for a final goodbye. That sends Burch back to West Texas on a mercy mission that plunges him into a violent world of gun-runners, cartel killers, crooked lawmen and anti-government extremists to fulfill a dying woman's last request.