Rides A Stranger

By David Bell

After the death of his father, a literature professor is drawn into the murder investigation of a bookstore owner...

Though Don and his father both love books, their tastes couldn't be more different. Don is a scholar, and his father reads nothing but schlock. His house is full of dime paperbacks, battered thrillers, and case after case of western novels, none of which his son could ever bear to read.

At his father's funeral, Don is approached by a strange man, a rare book dealer named Lou Caledonia. Don assumes the man wants to buy his dad's old westerns, but Lou explains that something far more important is on the line. Don finds the cramped confines of Lou's used bookstore immensely comforting, but a surprise waits for him downstairs. Caledonia has been shot dead, and Don is in danger, too. The boy who was too smart to read pulp fiction is about to find himself trapped in a thriller of his own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781781858318

David Bell

DAVID BELL is the author of five novels including NEVER COME BACK, THE HIDING PLACE, and CEMETERY GIRL. He is an Associate Professor of English at Western Kentucky University. To find out more visit: www.davidbellnovels.com

Reviews for Rides A Stranger

[kalky_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

David Bell's mystery novella RIDES A STRANGER does a lot in its few short pages: it questions how much we really know our family members, it teaches us a little bit about rare books, and it takes a look at the nostalgia prompted by a town's deterioration. RIDES A STRANGER picks up some of the themes and atmosphere in Bell's longer works, especially NEVER COME BACK and THE FORGOTTEN GIRL. I really enjoyed this quick read.