The Genuine Article — A.B. Guthrie Jr.

Two murders shock a Rocky Mountain ranch town in this captivating suspense novel from one of Montana's greatest storytellers

In the two years since his last adventure with Sheriff Chick Charleston, Jason Beard has been away at college, preparing to enter the “real world” when he graduates. When he returns to his hometown of Midbury, Montana, for the summer, he expects to see big changes -- but finds instead the same old peculiar place, its eccentric citizens up to familiar tricks.
 
One of those crusty characters is F. Y. Grimsley, a prominent rancher with a nasty mean streak. The day after Grimsley accuses the residents of a nearby Indian reservation of rustling his cattle, he turns up dead, struck on the head by an object that leaves distinctive marks. Sheriff Charleston deputizes Jase, and the two pay a visit to Eagle Charlie in search of answers. Soon after the interview, Eagle Charlie turns up murdered with what appears to be the same weapon that felled Grimsley.
 
With a potential serial killer on the loose, the sheriff and Jase are anxious to find the culprit before another body is discovered. Their investigation uncovers many dark and unexpected secrets of Midbury, but the crucial clue just might be as plain as day -- if they only knew where to look.