Semi-retired Minneapolis homicide detective Dan Neumann is happy to hear his best friend’s voice until he hears Pete’s words: “I need your help buddy. Grams is dead.”

Dan’s shock turns to outrage when he learns surrogate grandmother was murdered. He assumes it was a random break-in until Pete’s entire family is targeted. Finding out who and why is Dan’s mission. The puzzle gets even more strange when the investigation reveals a pro hit man and a lethal U.S. Army gas stolen in the Balkans which is an invitation to the FBI to take over. No matter. Jurisdiction means little to Dan -- this is personal.

Following the evidence into a land of billion-dollar mineral rights contracts Dan learns about the Bakken Oil Field and a twisted ugly world of fraud and conspiracy inhabited by men whose greed respects no one. As nature’s winter fury swirls around him Dan faces the killer in territory he never expected to find himself — “about thirty miles from the middle of nowhere – Alamo North Dakota.”

Combine a lifelong passion as a gun enthusiast along with a career working for companies “that make things go boom!” and it’s clear Phil Rustad is equipped to be the newest most innovative face in the murder mystery genre. Add his natural-born gift for storytelling and his insatiable curiosity and you have an unbeatable combination one that is destined to send readers on a thrill ride every time Phil Rustad puts pen to paper.

Phil and his wife Cindy live in Minneapolis Minnesota with their four-legged friend. His third Dan Neumann mystery Judge’s Choice was published in 2012.

 

"In his second Dan Neumann mystery Phil Rustad takes Dan and readers in a completely different direction from his previous work. Calling on his background in real estate history ordinance manufacturing art and architecture Rustad weaves an intricate trail of lost love and greed. His gift for detail and perspective will make this a book you won’t be able to put down. Rustad’s eclectic background is always showing up in his books paving the way for unique and unpredictable story lines full of character and compelling quirks. What will the local Whodunnit author think of next?" -- Plymouth Magazine March 20 2011