The Fatal Saving Grace: An Ed Earl Burch Novel

by Jim Nesbitt

MAYHEM WITH A BADGE

After wandering the peephole wilderness of a private detective for two decades, defrocked Dallas homicide detective Ed Earl Burch is an official manhunter again, wearing the badge of a DA's investigator in the harsh desert mountains of West Texas.

Big D, it ain't. And life as a resurrected lawman isn't everything he hoped it would be. Too many rules. Not enough satisfaction. And a boss who hates him for saving his life.

But Burch is back, tracking a serial killer who tortured and murdered his ex-lover--an Aryan Brotherhood gang leader Burch thought he killed in a desert shootout. He's also trying to protect the fugitive granddaughter of an old friend and her four-year-old son--from this straight-razor butcher and gunsels hired by her incestuous Dixie Mafia daddy.

Throats get slashed. Bullets smack flesh. Bodies drop. And Ed Earl Burch and his partner, Bobby Quintero, are in reckless pursuit, dodging death, closing in on their prey.

No place Burch would rather be. Unless he gets killed.

"Nesbitt delivers a scorched-earth tale set under the vast dome of West Texas sky, where every shadow conceals an ambush and every road bleeds history. He paints Texas in colors of rust, smoke and whiskey, and the result is a story that feels carved in stone. This is cowboy noir at its finest."
-Baron Birtcher, Will Rogers Medallion winning author of Knife River

"Ed Earl Burch, who's partial to Lucky Strikes and Maker's Mark, makes Mike Hammer look like Miss Marple. Jim's novels offer wicked humor, an eye for detail, brass-knuck action and language that would strip the paint off a Hummer."
-Noel Holston, author of Life After Deaf and As I Die Laughing

"Jim Nesbitt knows his Texas crime and writes one fine line at a time. Hard-boiled with prickly pears, old leather boots, a bit of tobacco, freshly spit of course, he gets it right."
-Joe R. Lansdale, champion mojo storyteller and author of the Hap 'N Leonard crime thrillers
"A gritty and deadly must-read, THE FATAL SAVING GRACE cements Nesbitt's standing among the best writers in the pantheon of Southern noir."
-Bruce Robert Coffin, bestselling author of the Detective Justice Mysteries

"Ed Earl Burch is back, and that's great news for readers who love classic hard-boiled noir, colorful characters, crackling dialogue and plenty of action. Highly recommended!"
-R.G. Belsky, author of the Gil Malloy and Clare Carlson mysteries

"This is powerful stuff. The action is hard and quick. And often final. There is smoke and guns and whisky and women. And a world full of payback. Ed Earl Burch will not go quietly into that good night. This old lawman stays loud and proud."
-Michael Ludden, author of Alfredo's Luck, Tate Drawdy and The Street King

301 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 15, 2025

About the author

Jim Nesbitt is the award-winning author of five hard-boiled Texas crime thrillers that feature battered but relentless Dallas PI Ed Earl Burch -- THE LAST SECOND CHANCE, a Silver Falchion finalist; THE RIGHT WRONG NUMBER, an Underground Book Reviews “Top Pick”; and, THE BEST LOUSY CHOICE, winner of the best crime fiction category of the 2020 Independent Press Book Awards, the 2020 Silver Falchion award for best action and adventure novel from the Killer Nashville crime fiction conference and bronze medal winner in the best mystery/thriller e-book category of the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards. His fourth book, THE DEAD CERTAIN DOUBT, was winner of the best crime fiction category of the 2024 Independent Press Book Awards. His latest book, THE FATAL SAVING GRACE, was released in mid-December 2025. Nesbitt was a journalist for more than 30 years, serving as a reporter, editor and roving national correspondent for newspapers and wire services in Alabama, Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Washington, D.C. He chased hurricanes, earthquakes, plane wrecks, presidential candidates, wildfires, rodeo cowboys, migrant field hands, neo-Nazis and nuns with an eye for the telling detail and an ear for the voice of the people who give life to a story. His stories have appeared in newspapers across the country and in magazines such as Cigar Aficionado and American Cowboy. He is a lapsed horseman, pilot, hunter and saloon sport with a keen appreciation for old guns, vintage cars and trucks, good cigars, aged whiskey and a well-told story. Nesbitt regularly reviews crime fiction and history on his blog, The Spotted Mule, and his author web site, as well as Facebook, Amazon and Goodreads. He now lives in Athens, Alabama. To learn more, go to his web site at: https://jimnesbittbooks.com

Reviews

[Rich Zahradnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the start, Jim Nesbitt comes in hot with "The Fatal Saving Grace" and delivers a scorcher from the first page to the last in his fifth Ed Earl Burch crime thriller. Ed Earl is pursued by a maniac of a killer seeking revenge in the badlands of West Texas. But Ed Earl, being the big-gun-wielding sumbitch he is, turns from hunted to hunter. He operates in a harsh yet stunning landscape, with its gun runners, drug mules and white supremisicst hideouts. The borderland is a character in this story as much as any of the people. It is a place where evil wins too often, and the line between hero and villain is like an old, half-covered trail in the desert. Ed Earl isn't sure which side he wants to be on. But like West Texas itself, he is unforgiving—in his case, of those who come after him and his own. "The Fatal Saving Grace" is excellent cowboy noir that will carry thriller readers into a dark and violent world. They'll be very glad Ed Earl Burch is the one out front doing the gunslinging.

[Bruce Coffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gritty and deadly must-read, THE FATAL SAVING GRACE cements Nesbitt’s standing among the best writers in the pantheon of southern noir.

[R.G. Belsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ed Earl Burch is back, and that's great news for readers who love classic hard-boiled noir, colorful characters, crackling dialogue and plenty of action. Highly recommended!"