A Grave Every Mile

by Crisman Strunk

All John Holmes wants to do is the least amount possible at his job of groundskeeper at a Florida trailer park and work on being the world’s best bum. But his past as a cop and his conscience won’t quit calling and introducing him to the worst humanity has to offer.

A former partner's daughter has gone missing. The partner left the police force in disgrace and his daughter works as a stripper. Add it all up and you don’t get the cops giving the case their full attention. So, John goes looking. Hey, somebody has to.

Trying to locate the girl sends Holmes on a journey along our nation's highways, past greasy diners, neon lit strip clubs, and truck stops with dark secrets. Finally, he is pulled into the orbit of a long-distance trucker named Craig Lee Melton and neither John nor anyone he cares about is safe.

Fans of Travis McGee, Jim Hardman, and Jim Rockford will be swept along as Holmes discovers a world that he didn't know existed, one that exists in the darkness beyond the headlights. One that many girls enter and some never leave.

And one where nothing is ever as it seems.

248 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 2, 2024

About the author

Crisman Strunk is an English and History teacher at the high school level and a professor at a local university. He is also the author of novels such as A Grave Every Mile and the upcoming All the Glory is Gone in the John Holmes series and A Hard Frost in the Gaol County Mystery series. He has loved reading and writing all his life. His family and friends have been “blessed” with comics, Star Trek technical manuals (big during his awkward middle school years), poems of excruciating badness, short stories, and novels throughout the years. He has also published some of these for the world at large. Throughout this reading and writing adventure, mysteries and thrillers have always been a favorite.

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining mystery listening 🎶🔰

I picked this novel because of the Florida location.

This kindle e-book novel is from my Kindle Unlimited account book 1 of 1

John gets a phone ☎ call from an old friend who needs help finding his missing daughter. A fast moving adventure thriller murder mystery with interesting characters lots of action, misdirection, and violence leading to the conclusion.

I would recommend this novel and author to 👍 readers of romantic murder mystery novels 👍🔰. 2024

[Sharla · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like a mystery featuring a tough guy with a heart as the main character, this is a good one. John Holmes reminds me a lot of James Lee Burke's detective, Dave Robicheaux. I like the John Holmes sidekick, Lucky, better than Robicheaux’s partner, Clete.

I enjoy a book that has a true-to-life setting. I want to feel like I'm right there, in the picture and this book does not disappoint on that score.

There are one or two typos and a few name mix-ups, but not so many as to be distracting. If the time period was specified, I didn’t catch it but there are phone booths and no cell phones, green computer screens and Miami Vice is mentioned in passing so there are clues. I like the retro angle.

In full disclosure, I know the author but if I didn't like the book I wouldn't recommend it. I got mine as an e-book through kindle.

[victoria carrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like well developed humorous characters, this is the book for you. I loved all of the good guys in this book, personality flaws and all. But, just because there is humor, don't think this is a cozy who-done-it. The plot presents some harsh societal truths. I didn't give this title five stars because it didn't provide a solid enough mystery for my taste. (although there is a twisty reveal at the end) I hope this is a continuing series, so I can revisit the cast of characters to see what mischief they get into. I recommend this title.

I received a free advance copy of this title. However, the lack of purchase in no way impacted my voluntary honest review.

[Carla Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. I liked this book a lot. Ex-cop John Holmes is asked by an old colleague to find his missing daughter. He does some detective work as a side job when he's not to busy being maintenance at the retired people's mobile home park. While investigating his old colleagues case. He comes across an acquaintance of the girl he's looking for. John gets all the bad vibes he can handle off of this guy. He truly believes he is behind the disappearance of the girl Kelly he's looking for. When he gets further into the investigation, people start threatening his life. Things start to get dangerous. He will find out what happened to Kelly if he doesn't get killed first. This was a very quick read. Enjoyable. Give it try, you might like it too.

[Aaron Jeffries · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was definitely a page turner. I wasn't familiar with the author, but the book caught my interest. I wasn't disappointed. There wasn't any part of the book that drug on and it flowed really well. I particularly really loved the ending. I hope the wait is short to the next book in the series. I highly recommend.

[Heather Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of A Grave Every Mile through Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.

This is a pretty solid crime thriller that left me guessing until the end.

One thing that makes this particular book stand out from other thrillers is the humor that the author incorporated. While there are several scenarios throughout the book that warrant and deliver a serious tone, the overall attitude portrayed by the protagonist, John, reminds the reader that it's okay to not take life too seriously.

John is an extremely likable and relatable character, which gives this story a much more immersive effect. He comes off as a real person, with both flaws and strengths–he's far from perfect, but he tries to do good. Basically, John is that friend that you could call at 3 in the morning asking for help, and he'd show up. He might, in good fun, harass you a bit about the predicament you found yourself in, but he's unlikely to judge.

I'm pretty stoked that this is only book 1 in the series, because that means we'll get to read about many more of John's good intention fueled shenanigans.

If you're into crime thrillers with a bit of humor and phenomenal character development, you should give A Grave Every Mile a shot!

[Jac · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book as part of a giveaway. Such a fun read. I was really encapsulated by the characters and the storyline. Def would recommend.