Death on the Dixie — Michael D. George

When drifter Tom Dix arrives in Barker, on the banks of the Mississippi, he soon finds himself in the middle of a shooting. Chasing the culprit through the dark streets, he guns down the town sheriff by mistake! Fleeing the scene, he boards the DIXIE PRINCESS riverboat, where the annual poker tournament is just beginning. Pursued by a deputy with revenge burning his soul, Dix finds himself ensnared in a violent and murderous plot.