CRESCENT MOON CROSSING is a completed 74,000-word thriller that features a murder that could be ripped from today’s tension-laden border conflict headlines.

Staff Sergeant Jace Merrick has two short-term goals--join the Army Intelligence unit, and kill his wife.

He hatches a scheme to make her death look like a Mexican cartel smuggling operation gone wrong. But before he can carry out his plan, she is shot, and he becomes the prime murder suspect.

Rumor Vargas is determined to find her best friend’s killer, even after Sheriff Cooper Jones warns her to keep her amateur nose out of his investigation. She’s a sexy, persistent diversion, one who dredges up memories he’d rather forget of his own murdered wife.

But when his investigation turns to her older brother as a possible suspect, Rumor has reasons beyond their physical attraction to keep Coop close.

The Sheriff suspects Alberto Vargas has Cartel ties, and this looks like the Sinoloan gang’s work.

Following the killer’s clue, “An eye for an eye, a wife for a wife,” Rumor and Coop delve into a single decision in Jace’s past that has resulted in cold-blooded revenge.

Fans of C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett, J.A. Jance’s Joanna Brady series, or Craig Johnson’s Longmire series should enjoy CRESCENT MOON CROSSING. Additionally, the two sides of the border conflict could stimulate an interesting book club discussion.