Garth Carson Series

Garth Carson has gone legit. Complete with briefcase in hand, he’s appraising taxidermy collections for one of the largest insurance companies in the country. But when prominent big-game hunters start dying—apparently slaughtered by their own taxidermy—Garth’s shiny new career makes him the FBI’s number one suspect.

On the run with his gal Angie and their favorite Russian gnome, Otto, Garth finds himself hopscotching across the heartland, from Hell (Michigan) to Chicago to New Mexico, on a high-stakes hunt for the real killer—who may be linked to his own family’s dubious past. But when they stumble upon a renegade brotherhood, a top secret government installation, and a former archaeologist who believes Garth’s nudist mother turned him into a werewolf, will Garth be one step closer to clearing his name? Or will this whirlwind of conspiracies spin him straight into the path of a killer who’s already hot on his tail?

Leaping fishes. Prowling bobcats. Frosty penguins and mute moose heads…These are the things that fill Garth Carson’s life as he buys, sells, and rents exotic taxidermy from his funky New York City storefront. But now Garth and his gal, Angie, have acquired the most sinister stuffed critter in the world: a certain white crow in a bell jar that Angie swoons over–and that other people are dying to get their hands on.

When the crow is stolen, along with $50,000 worth of their best taxidermy, Garth and Angie are plunged into the spooky heart of old New England and a realm of crazed carnies, bumbling feds, and a couple of freshly snuffed collectors. To save their bird–and their lives–these two reluctant sleuths must penetrate a zany, highly illegal international treasure hunt…and confront a freak who has a thing for murder.

“The funniest tough-guy writer there is.”
–Lee Child

“Audacious and always original. Wiprud twangs funny bones I never knew I had.” –T. Jefferson Parker

New York City taxidermy collector Garth Carson was seconds away from snagging the greatest find of his career—the original Pipsqueak the Nutty Nut, stuffed-squirrel puppet star of his favorite 1950s kiddie TV show—until a biker, a brawny redhead, and a murder derailed his dreams and stole his squirrel. Now Garth would do anything to get Pipsqueak back. Unfortunately, so would someone else.

When Garth and his gal, Angie, two of New York’s most unlikely sleuths, enter a wacky, rollicking underworld of club-goers, jive cult members, and at least one very violent Pipsqueak aficionado, Garth’s black-sheep crime-prone brother joins the fray, sure that there’s more to this squirrel than old fur and a pair of glass eyes. Suddenly Garth is starting to get a clue: The puppet star of one old-time TV show is leading him straight into the heart of a loopy cult, a retro rage, and a diabolical conspiracy to first control Pipsqueak—then the world.