Blood In The Water
(2026)(The seventh book in the Sheriff Ray Duke Small Town Mystery series)
A novel by Kelly Cross
A dead fisherman. A murdered poker winner. One sheriff who doesn't believe in coincidence.
When a wealthy out-of-state angler turns up face-down in Blue Sky County's Gold Medal waters and the poker tournament winner is found dead in a casino parking lot hours later, Sheriff Ray Duke knows two things before the evidence arrives — these men didn't die by accident, and whoever put them down is still in his county.
As Duke pulls both threads, what unravels isn't just a double murder — it's a web of dirty money, high-stakes greed, and dangerous secrets running three layers deep beneath the most trusted name in Blue Sky County.
With a killer operating in the open and the people closest to the truth too afraid to speak, Duke must navigate a world of casino vice, big city crime, and small-town betrayal to deliver justice for two men nobody was supposed to mourn. But the deeper he digs, the more personal it becomes — because buried beneath both crimes is a connection that reaches back twenty-seven years.
To a case that was never closed.
To a name he has been hunting his entire career.
To the one person Ray Duke has never stopped looking for.
Some debts get paid in cash. Some get paid in blood. And some have been waiting a very long time.
Genre: Inspirational
When a wealthy out-of-state angler turns up face-down in Blue Sky County's Gold Medal waters and the poker tournament winner is found dead in a casino parking lot hours later, Sheriff Ray Duke knows two things before the evidence arrives — these men didn't die by accident, and whoever put them down is still in his county.
As Duke pulls both threads, what unravels isn't just a double murder — it's a web of dirty money, high-stakes greed, and dangerous secrets running three layers deep beneath the most trusted name in Blue Sky County.
With a killer operating in the open and the people closest to the truth too afraid to speak, Duke must navigate a world of casino vice, big city crime, and small-town betrayal to deliver justice for two men nobody was supposed to mourn. But the deeper he digs, the more personal it becomes — because buried beneath both crimes is a connection that reaches back twenty-seven years.
To a case that was never closed.
To a name he has been hunting his entire career.
To the one person Ray Duke has never stopped looking for.
Some debts get paid in cash. Some get paid in blood. And some have been waiting a very long time.
Genre: Inspirational