The Man in the Moon — James Reasoner

Markham is a private detective, but instead of a client he has a personal stake in this case. He's the one who finds the two kids wandering along a desert highway in the middle of the night. Their father is missing, and Markham's efforts to discover the man's fate draw him into a dark web of crime, hate . . . and murder.

THE MAN IN THE MOON is a 10,000 word novella from legendary author James Reasoner. It originally appeared in the April 1980 issue of MIKE SHAYNE MYSTERY MAGAZINE and is one of several stories about Markham, a classic Southern California private eye.