The Torment of Murder: a Pauley novel

Pauley quits his job with the Mesalinda, Texas police force and goes to join his wife in Shale, Arkansas. Immediately, he is involved in a murder case - and this time it's personal. Is the killer someone close to the woman Pauley shot? Is that person out for retaliation? Who is that person? Is Hank Trumbo the killer? And if so, why? What reason does he have to make Pauley suffer and to kill him? Could the killer be someone who grows illegal marijuana and caught Pauley's wife at one of the patches? If so, then who could it be? Was the first killing an accident? A shot fired by a drunken hunter? Pauley is confident someone wants revenge and plans to kill him, but the local police chief (T.W. Dawson) disagrees. While Dawson follows one chain of investigation, Pauley follows another and their paths cross at the scene of other brutal murders. This fast-paced and gritty whodunit will keep you turning pages. And, as is customary in novels by Ecs, the characters are three-dimensional; they are real people.

Ecs has a Master’s degree in creative writing from Florida State University, has sold several novels, and has had stories published in Southern Review, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Highlights for Children, and many other magazines and periodicals. Along with writing much of the content, Ecs was senior editor for The Snap Magazine (the best billiards magazine ever); and for four years was editorial assistant for The Journal of the American Statistical Association. After reading thousands of novels and short stories, and writing for many years, the conventional yarns desired by publishers began to seem trite and boring to Ecs. Since category and formula fiction dominated the marketplace, variance from established frameworks was frowned upon by publishing powers. Having been a part of the insistence for novels in specified genres for several years in order to continue being published, Ecs decided to forego the safety of traditional publishing and strike out alone. If you are looking for something a trace outside the typical, something bright and new, then novels by this innovative author will suit you fine.