Devil's Run

by A.R. Simmons

Fireballs in the night, and multiple victims of what appears to be a mob hit? In a sleepy Ozark town like Blue Creek? Rural deputy Richard Carter has seen his share of mayhem, but nothing like this. As he, his cynical partner Ron Guidry, and new deputy Cicely “Kit” Kittredge dig into what at first appears to be insurance fraud, they uncover something “unholy” near a small creek called Devil’s Run. While they search for a motive, sadistic murder burns its way through Hawthorn County, eliminating their suspects.Devil’s Run is a stand-alone Mystery/Suspense novel (#12) in the Richard Carter series.

345 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

AR Simmons grew up in the Missouri Ozarks. He walked a gravel road to a rural school evocative of “Walton’s Mountain.” His parents did factory work to buy things not provided by their subsistence farm which was passed down from his grandfather who cleared the land from the native forest. He and his wife (beta reader, illustrator, and muse) still live on that farm. So his roots run deep in the Ozark soil. Using the culture, language, and mores of this "Bible Belt" region, he writes culturally immersive stories of obsession set amidst the small-town and rural life that he knows and loves.

He began writing seriously with a suspense novel which he serialized around the turn of the millennium on his website www.bluecreeknovels. It took until 2013 for him to publish the first Richard Carter novel (Bonne Femme) as an e-book. The series now includes fourteen mystery/suspense stand-alone stories that also chronicle Richard’s life with each story spaced about a year apart. This required a year-by-year update to the technology available to the characters because time marches on.

PS. Simmons is a rather common drudge, so once considered changing his nom-de-plume to “Bess Sellers.”