Red, White, and Blue Murder — Bill Crider

Sheriff Dan Rhodes has half a mind to shoot the next person who asks if it's hot enough for him, what with the near hundred-degree heat and a months-old drought. He's also a bit warm under the collar over an ambitious local reporter's allegations of corruption in the local county commissioner's office -- accusations that include him as well.

Rhodes has no trouble clearing his own name, but manages to uncover some nasty business over at the commissioner's office. But when the charred body of the county commissioner is found among the ashes of his torched fishing cabin, Rhodes suspects July's fireworks are only getting started. Toss in some small scheming, bribery and dirty romance, and it only goes to prove the seasoned lawman's tried and tested theory about murder: it always boils down to love or money. Sometimes both.