City Problems

by Steve Goble

Published 6 July 2021
A moment of violence—a snap judgement—a life changed to the core

Ed Runyon bolted from the NYPD after a runaway teen case fell through the cracks and turned into a nightmarish murder. Now, he’s learned to bury the rage that consumed him, cope with depression, and enjoy life as a Mifflin County sheriff’s detective in rural Ohio.

Ed is trying to relax on his day off when Columbus PD Detective Shelly Beckworth comes to Mifflin County in search of a girl who vanished after a pop-up party. The clues are scarce—a few license plates, a phone shattered on the roadside—but the trail leads to Ed’s neck of the woods.

He tries to shove everything else aside to keep this case from ending in another tragedy, but a cop can’t pick and choose which calls to duty he’ll answer. Frustrated, Ed watches a happy ending slip beyond sight—this one he cannot run away from.

Charging forward, Ed breaks rules and takes risks leading to a bloody confrontation where everything he believes as a cop and every ghost in his head clash—a moment of avenging violence that will ultimately change his life to the core.

Perfect for fans of Robert Crais and John Sanford

While the novels in the Ed Runyon Mystery Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence is:

City Problems
Wayward Son
Go Find Daddy
(coming 2023)

Wayward Son

by Steve Goble

Published 2 August 2022
A PI goes hunting for a missing boy—and ends up being prey

Ed Runyon, a former sheriff’s deputy haunted by past missing child cases that went horribly wrong, is struggling to launch a PI agency and still live in the Ohio farm country he loves. His love life is in shambles, too, as his partner turns to someone else. His best friend got roughed up by a rogue cop, so Ed is in a fighting mood.

Ed finds a new focus when he is hired to find a runaway chess aficionado who is keeping secrets from his homophobic, religious parents. Finding kids is the reason he became a PI, so Ed is determined to succeed and put the demons and other problems behind him. But Jimmy Zachman made a bad move and ran into far more trouble than he was already in, and the hunt for him leads Ed to a deadly and desperate confrontation. Everything comes down to determination—and one very risky move. Ed must find Jimmy at all costs.

Perfect for fans of John Sandford and Robert Crais

While the novels in the Ed Runyon Mystery Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence is:

City Problems
Wayward Son
Go Find Daddy
(coming 2023)

Go Find Daddy

by Steve Goble

Published 11 July 2023
A man on the run—can Ed Runyon find him and tell him about his dying daughter?

When a cop is murdered in rural Ohio on Donny Blackmon’s property, the case seems open and shut. Donny must’ve done it—he’s a known cop-hater, and he’s already fled. Believing her husband is innocent, Donny’s wife calls Whiskey River Investigations, the new one-man PI agency run by former sheriff’s deputy Ed Runyon, to see if Ed can find her husband.

Ed isn’t sure he’ll take the case until he visits the Blackmon family home and meets Donny’s daughter, who has just been diagnosed with cancer—and Donny doesn’t know. When Donny’s daughter asks Ed to “go find Daddy,” Ed knows he has to find Donny before the police do, whether or not he’s innocent.

Ed soon realizes finding Donny won’t be an easy job: Donny trusts no one, and he’s gone completely off the grid. But Ed finds something the police have missed and begins piecing the puzzle together. The closer he gets to the truth, the more danger he finds. But he took the job, so Ed is going to find Donny Blackmon—or die trying.

Perfect for fans of Robert Crais and John Sanford.

While all the novels in the Ed Runyon Mystery Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence is:

City Problems
Wayward Son
Go Find Daddy