The Case of Cortney Rice: A Dusty and Country Murder Mystery Hardcover – March 20, 2026

At the age of sixty, Dusty is an old school detective. Sharp as a razor blade, sarcastic, full of mischief and the silver haired fox, that women are drawn to. His K-9 partner Country is an Australian Shepard Collie who talks. But only Dusty understands what comes out of his snout. Between the two of them they conjure up enough mischief to bring about a hilarious side to the serious murder mystery of the wealthy heiress to the Rice Pet Food Company, Cortney Rice. When the police turn up nothing, Joleen Rice hires private investigator Dusty Roads to solve her sister's murder. The finger of murder points Dusty to Joleen’s only brother. But that wasn’t adding up in Dusty’s mind. How could the brother have killed his sister Cortney if he was murdered at the same time. Dusty and Country’s investigation uncovered several suspects who all end up dead before Dusty can interview them. Even the Detective, initially investigating the murder, has committed suicide! How convenient. From the very beginning there was a piece of the Rice family puzzle missing. A direct link to the killer, and Dusty just could not put his finger on it. Dusty had to ask himself, ‘did Joleen Rice commit the perfect crime and get away with murder? Dusty feels he is grabbing threads in the case and tracks down Maude, a spry old lady, living in a nursing home and a good friend of Cortney’s deceased mother. Maude tells Dusty there was a second brother that no one knew about. A police officer by the name of Light that was feeding Dusty information on the case from the very beginning. Will Dusty and Country unravel the conspiracy of Cortney Rice’s murder? Or will the finger of murder point back to Joleen Rice and something eviler than greed? Read more