The Shades Dripped Red

<p><strong>Inspired by a horrific unsolved true crime in the author's old hometown</strong> <em>The Shades Dripped Red</em> (Longitudes Press) is the second thriller in the Nick Montaigne mystery series by Peter Kurtz. As with the debut Montaigne novel <em>Black Jackknife</em> (<strong>praised by both Publishers Weekly and Midwest Book Review)</strong> <em>The Shades Dripped Red</em> continues the exploits of suave Atlanta private detective Nick Montaigne and his clumsy but lovable partner ex-cop Vern Wister. Here the two investigators travel to a small Ohio town seemingly stuck in time to investigate a 25-year-old double-homicide. Assisted by a crusading news reporter with a substance abuse problem (and in Montaigne's case a very sexy engineer) they become immersed in COVID-era espionage small-town parochialism and the military-industrial complex.</p><p>Still a mystery in real life perhaps. But with Montaigne-Wister poking around it's only a matter of time before this cold case is thawed.</p>