The Vulgar Boatman — William G. Tapply

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Tom Baron needs help. On the eve of a low-budget fundraiser, a local teenage girl is found strangled to death in the woods behind the high school. And Baron's son Buddy, the girl's boyfriend, is missing.

With the lovely Sylvie Szabo in tow, Baron's attorney Brady Coyne heads to the little North Shore town of Windsor Harbor to help his client.

He has to wonder, though. Is Baron more concerned about finding his son--or preventing a scandal that could ruin his campaign? The stakes are high on both counts, and it isn't long before Coyne finds himself on the wrong end of some persuasive-looking firearms--on a murder case that threatens to drown him in danger.