Buck Fever: It's the week before deer hunting season, as close to a statewide holiday as you get in Texas, and the locals are getting restless. Game Warden John Marlin has his hands full with poaching complaints coming in faster than he can write out-of-season tickets. Then a call of a different sort comes in. A man dressed up in some sort of deer costume has been shot at the Circle S ranch, and witnesses are reporting a massive wild-eyed buck prancing about the pasture in a lovesick frenzy. Marlin's seen a lot in his years, but this is wilder than he could have imagined: the man in the deer suit is a good friend, and the whacked-out whitetail isn't exactly a stranger either. It's the beginning of a mad, frantic weekend in Blanco County, one that will see a few more men shot, an invasion by Colombians with more than hunting on their minds, and damn near the end of Marlin's life. Ben Rehder serves it all up with a huge helping of humor in this debut comic mystery that will firmly establish him as the funniest crime writer in Texas.

"This guy is the funniest, freshest voice in Texas mystery writing today. His work stands out like a DayGlo parka in deer season."—Rick Riordan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning ThiefBone Life can get a little wild from time to time for John Marlin, the game warden in Blanco County, Texas—but few incidents compare to the stories flying around town at the start of this new deer season. Hunters are reporting an incredible a six-foot-tall, drop-dead gorgeous blonde is roaming the woods, searching out camouflage-clad men with guns and disarming them with powers of seduction the likes of which none of them have ever come across before. Everyone has a hearty laugh at the expense of a few embarrassed hunters, until one of their own turns up dead in the woods. Now Marlin has a real mystery to deal with. Meanwhile, rumors are spreading about a new Blanco resident, an ex-New Yorker named Sal Mameli who's ruffling feathers with his loud mouth and his penchant for getting his own way, no matter what the cost. Before long, John Marlin realizes he may be the only sane man in town, and he's starting to wonder if he can last much longer himself. It's just the start of another unforgettable hunting season in Bone Dry, the hilarious second novel from Edgar finalist Ben Rehder.REVIEWS FOR BONE “You don’t need an invite to the Bush ranch to have fun in Texas. Ben Rehder, whose Buck Fever earned him an Edgar nomination for best first mystery last year, is back…” —Chicago Tribune“More funny adventures of John Marlin, amiable, estimable game warden of Blanco County, Texas. Opening Day of the deer-hunting season is always a time of test and turmoil for Marlin, but in this winning sequel to Buck Fever (2002) he finds himself particularly beset. Characters to chuckle at, yes, but Rehder never forgets he’s got clues to furnish and a story to tell.” —Kirkus Reviews“Fans of Rehder’s rollicking debut, Buck Fever (2002), which was nominated for both Edgar and Lefty awards, will welcome the sequel, an over-the-top tale of sex, mayhem and murder in Texas’s hill country.” —Publishers Weekly“…a humdinger. Funny, sardonic, and filled with clever metaphors and similes, Bone Dry is as cool and satisfying as a Lone Star beer on a hot Texas afternoon.” —Sports Afield“Rehder’s books are readable for their portrayals of over-the-top Texans who still live life the old-fashioned fat, drunk and stupid. Bone Dry…would make a nice read in the deer blind on opening morning.” —Mike Leggett, Austin American-Statesman“Lots of twists and turns and authentic police procedures…[a] fast-paced romp.” —San Antonio Express-News“…weird, wild and wacky…one of the funniest mysteries of the year…[this] fast-paced novel has a variety of peculiar plotlines that all converge in a wild and memorable ending. Rehder’s first book was a finalist for the Edgar Award and the Lefty Award (for the funniest crime novel of the year). His latest effort is in the same category–it’s a nifty, hilarious romp that’s tough to put down.” —Lansing State Journal

"You'd have to be Flat Crazy to miss a Ben Rehder book. This guy is the funniest, freshest voice in Texas mystery writing today." —Rick Riordan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Thief Flat Crazy: An unidentified wild creature is on the loose in Blanco County, and, over the protests of game warden John Marlin, the locals have convinced themselves they're dealing with a mythical vampirish beast called a chupacabra. It doesn't help Marlin's cause when a dead body turns up with a fang-like wound in its neck. Then things really get out of hand: tabloid news programs invade Blanco, good old boys Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock develop a cockamamie get-rich-quick scheme involving the animal, and everyone is a little surprised at the booming population of voluptuous Chinese dwarves who've turned up in town. If anyone can make sense of the strange events, it's John Marlin, who's well-versed in the intricacies of small-town life, Texas style. But can he do it before another body turns up? REVIEWS FOR FLAT CRAZY: “Murderously funny…[Game Warden] Marlin’s job, as usual, is to keep a cool hand on a dangerously fraught situation. Rehder’s job, performed with similar skill, is to stand back and let it all work itself out.” —Chicago Tribune “Another of Rehder’s relentlessly twisted tales. Outrageous fun.” —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) “Down-home humor that is both intriguing and entertaining.” —Dallas Morning News “The odd cast of characters and bizarre plots and subplots make for a rollicking good read.” —Houston Chronicle “The third and cleverest installment of Austinite Ben Rehder’s Blanco County Mystery series. Flat Crazy is pure, guilt-free pleasure for those who like their mysteries with a side order of weird.” —Texas Monthly “Rehder has a stable of characters and critters guaranteed to create havoc. Marlin’s quiet competency adds to the enjoyment, as he puzzles out this confounding mystery.” —Publishers Weekly “Rollicking good fun.” —San Antonio Express-News “Rehder’s clever storytelling skills, his expert comic timing and flair for characters have made this series shine. Rehder’s series works for both those readers who despise hunting as well as those who indulge in the sport. Rehder’s dark sense of humor serves him well as Flat Crazy has many laugh-out loud moments, punctuated by sharp dialogue and odd but believable characters. Flat Crazy‘s ending is the perfect mix of absurd humor and suspenseful action. Rehder doesn’t just write niche mysteries, he’s proving to be one of the genre’s rising talents with his twisted tales.” —South Florida Sun-Sentinel “Ben Rehder is back with the third installment of his Blanco County mystery series, and, once again, he’s brought the funny…well-drawn characters, genuine plot surprises, and ironic social commentary lift the series well above the connect-the-dots level. Flat Crazy is flat-out funny, and I can’t wait to see what [Game Warden] John Marlin gets into next.” —Austin Chronicle

"This guy is the funniest, freshest voice in Texas mystery writing today. His work stands out like a DayGlo parka in deer season."—Rick Riordan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning ThiefGuilt in rural Blanco County, Texas, isn't what most folks would call exciting—and that suits game warden John Marlin just fine. He's happy to spend his days and nights protecting the local wildlife from poachers. But when the tequila-slamming, skirt-chasing treasurer of the local Rotary Club goes missing and his vehicle is found in the river the day after a flood, Marlin finds himself in charge of the search efforts. At nearly the same time, a nearby house explodes in a shower of drug paraphernalia, and an exotic car turns up stolen from the missing man's barn. Marlin and Sheriff Bobby Garza are soon overwhelmed, trying to figure out how everything connects together. It isn’t long before events begin to spiral out of control. Edgar Award-nominated author Ben Rehder keeps the plot moving and the laughs coming in another spectacularly funny crime novel straight out of the zaniest imagination in Texas.REVIEWS FOR GUILT “Guilt Trip is the fourth in Mr. Rehder’s well-received Blanco County mystery series. He uncorks his latest story, which involves murder and a Texas state senator, using a cast of quirky but believable characters and a crisp, wry writing style.” —Dallas Morning News“This series about Blanco County, Texas, game warden John Marlin keeps getting odder and funnier…But one thing’s for Rehder has jumped to a new level, and Guilt Trip just might grab a chunk of the outsize Hiaasen crowd.” —Booklist“As funny as it is suspenseful…Well-paced, smartly plotted, full of memorable Hill Country denizens and crackling dialogue, this is diverting fun.” —Publishers Weekly“Ben Rehder has found a way to keep the laughs coming even when bodies start to litter the countryside of Blanco County, Texas…Lots of distinct characters ensure that the novel never lags, and John Marlin is a happy combination of ecologist and eccentric.” —Dallas Morning News“Rehder has a special talent for creating idiosyncratic characters and putting them in outlandish situations…Rehder’s still on a roll with Guilt Trip. I liked it very much, and recommend it to anyone seeking a light-hearted read.” —Davis Enterprise“…the regional flavor of Hiaasen and the strong story elements of Westlake, with laugh-out-loud moments leavening the strangeness of life…Guilt Trip is a hoot and a holler of a mystery.” —Flint Journal

It’s just days before the National Weapons Alliance rally in Blanco County, and things couldn’t be off to a worse start. First, an illegal immigrant is killed in a questionable hunting accident. Then, when local game warden John Marlin starts poking around for clues, he uncovers an astonishing secret—one that threatens to bring down the NWA. Turns out the host of this year’s rally, heartthrob country superstar Mitch Campbell, is not the Stetson-wearing, gun-toting, bull-riding man he appears to be…and someone’s planning to out him for the pill-popping, snowboarding, former rock-and-roller from Vermont he really is. Soon the entire town of Blanco finds itself in the dead center of a national scandal…and heading straight into the line of fire.

"This guy is the funniest, freshest voice in Texas mystery writing today. His work stands out like a DayGlo parka in deer season." —Rick Riordan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Thief Holy Moly: When televangelist Peter Boothe decides to build a megachurch on the banks of the Pedernales River, he thinks his biggest problem will be a few unhappy neighbors. However, when backhoe operator Hollis Farley unearths a rare fossil on the construction site—-a discovery that could lead to plenty of embarrassing Darwinian publicity—-the cover-up begins. Soon, Farley is dead, shot in the back with an arrow, and Game Warden John Marlin is asked to help with the case. What he and the local deputies find is a suspect list of biblical proportions: Could it have been the bitter geology professor? The private fossil collector with a somewhat unusual fetish? The minister’s wife who takes the Commandments rather lightly? Or the geriatric environmentalist with a mean right hook? Nothing is sacred in Rehder’s most laughable satire yet, a twisted tale of greed, corruption, infidelity, and, yes, paleontology. REVIEWS FOR HOLY MOLY: “Rich with clever prose, oddball characters and laugh-aloud plot twists. The author, an Edgar Award finalist, is a sharp stylist with an engaging and frequently irreverent sense of humor.” — Dallas Morning News “For those suffering Carl Hiaasen withdrawals, Holy Moly might be the perfect poolside fix come summer.” — Texas Monthly “A tale of lust, power and greed that unravels at breakneck speed…Rehder’s characters are always memorable, as are his satirical plots. His style is entertaining and fun to read.” — San Antonio Express-News “Edgar-finalist Rehder’s sixth Blanco County (Tex.) mystery may be the best to date in this rollicking crime series. Rehder’s satirical take on greed, faith and foolishness moves at a swift clip, punctuated with dizzy twists and even bittersweet turns, like a good toe-tapping, country and western tune.” — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) “Ben Rehder in his hilarious Holy Moly places televangelists and the creationism vs. evolution debate under the microsope. [He] takes readers on an adventure into the multimillion-dollar realm of the televangelist on whose land the fossil was found, life in small-town Texas, and the inner workings of police investigation in the latest entry in this Edgar Award-nominated series. Combining sophisticated prose with down-home Texas crime, he leaves no part of Texas life untouched.” — Library Journal

The sheriff of Blanco County has a problem on his hands. One local resident is making vague threats—hypothetically speaking, of course—to unsettle another local resident, who stole the first man's girlfriend. The problem escalates and violence is almost certain, until the sheriff comes up with a brilliant and ironic solution.

"This guy is the funniest, freshest voice in Texas mystery writing today. His work stands out like a DayGlo parka in deer season." —Rick Riordan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Thief HOG HEAVEN: After a high-school football star dies in a late-night motorcycle collision with a wild pig, the boy’s wealthy father comes up with a creative scheme to rid Blanco County of the feral pests: He tattoos the ear of one particular pig, then offers a $50,000 reward for anyone who shoots it. Game warden John Marlin is not pleased—chiefly because the bounty is likely to bring a wave of poachers and trespassers to the area. The tension rises even higher when the death of the local boy turns out to be more complicated than it originally appeared. Fans of Ben Rehder’s earlier comic mysteries will be in heaven—Hog Heaven. REVIEWS FOR BEN REHDER'S NOVELS: “Murderously funny.” —Chicago Tribune “Another of Rehder’s relentlessly twisted tales. Outrageous fun.” —Kirkus Reviews “Wickedly funny.” —Dallas Morning News “The odd cast of characters and bizarre plots and subplots make for a rollicking good read.” —Houston Chronicle “Rehder has made the leap from writing skillful comic pleasantries to pulverizing satire.” — Austin American-Statesman “Rehder writes with an assured hand and a knowing tip of the wide-brimmed cowboy hat to the ways and wiles of the characters that people his distinctly Texan landscape.” —San Antonio Express-News “[An] increasingly popular (and increasingly enjoyable) series. With this novel, the Marlin series has completed the transition from light mystery to no-holds-barred madcap comedy crime fiction (à la Westlake or Hiaasen).” —Booklist “Rehder continues to improve with each book. [His] series will appeal to fans of Southwestern mysteries laced with a bit of humor.” —Library Journal “This series about Blanco County, Texas, game warden John Marlin keeps getting odder and funnier…But one thing’s for sure: Rehder has jumped to a new level...just might grab a chunk of the outsize Hiaasen crowd.” —Booklist “Down-home humor that is both intriguing and entertaining.” —Dallas Morning News “Rollicking good fun.” —San Antonio Express-News “Rehder’s clever storytelling skills, his expert comic timing and flair for characters have made this series shine. Rehder doesn’t just write niche mysteries, he’s proving to be one of the genre’s rising talents with his twisted tales.” —South Florida Sun-Sentinel “The writing here is confident and vigorous; the tone is quintessentially Texan and relentlessly wry. There’s sure to be a long career for this happy, wacky series.” —Publishers Weekly “Ben Rehder writes about the Texas Hill Country with such insightful appreciation that he’s come to own the territory, much the same way Carl Hiaasen owns South Florida.” —Austin Chronicle

"This guy is the funniest, freshest voice in Texas mystery writing today. His work stands out like a DayGlo parka in deer season." —Rick Riordan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Thief Stag Party: When the 102-year-old inventor of an amazing new hunting product is murdered, the clues point toward the Endicotts, a controversial reality-show family. Did one of the members do something desperate to claim the invention as their own and boost their waning popularity? Blanco County game warden John Marlin intends to find out, if he can prevent his best friend from having a deadly run-in with the prime suspect. Stag Party is the eighth novel in Ben Rehder’s hilarious Blanco County mystery series.

Bum Steer: After a young woman and a bull are found dead in a dark pasture, Blanco County game warden John Marlin is asked to assist with the investigation. Was it a case of rustling gone wrong? Or maybe a prank turned deadly? Marlin hopes the woman’s boyfriend can shed some light on the situation, but he’s nowhere to be found. Is he on the run or did the woman’s violent brother take matters into his own hands? Marlin and a special investigator—an old flame from his college days—join forces to see past the bull and discover the truth. Edgar and Shamus Award finalist Ben Rehder's novels have made best-of-the-year lists in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and Field & Stream.

Sean Hudson thought nothing of hopping a fence to dig illegally for Native American arrowheads, spear points, and other artifacts. Did his thieving, trespassing ways get him killed? How else to explain the small pickaxe that was found sunk deep into his skull? Blanco County game warden John Marlin has dealt with these kinds of looters before, so it’s no surprise when the sheriff asks him to assist with the investigation. Marlin quickly learns that this case—like the soil at a dig site—has many layers.

When a Blanco County hog hunter goes missing after a fight with his girlfriend, it’s not a laughing matter—even when one of today’s hottest blue-collar comedians is a suspect. Game warden John Marlin joins forces with the sheriff’s department once again to root through the clues and discover the truth. Meanwhile, two of the county’s most notorious poachers—Red O’Brien and Billy Don Craddock—decide to launch an investigation of their own, and the cops are not amused.

Red O’Brien and Billy Don Craddock are finishing a construction project for one of their regular customers when he makes an unexpected request—help him regain custody of his beloved beagle, Teddy. The way they go about it is a howl.

Deke Gilbert was a legend on the central Texas demolition derby circuit, until a suspicious late-night crash ended his life. Unfortunately, Deke left behind a teenage daughter, Christie, who now has nowhere to go. That’s when good ol’ boys Red O’Brien and Billy Don Craddock step up and, in a rare moment, do the right thing. They give Christie a place to stay until her 18th birthday, just a few months away. But things get complicated when Christie brings home gossip that draws Red and Billy Don into an investigation of Deke’s death. Soon, they are on a collision course with one of the baddest men in the county, and it quickly becomes a wild ride that none of them will forget.

Safari Adventure is a small but popular zoo that entertains visitors from all over Texas—until one morning when most of the animals escape and a body is found on the premises. Game warden John Marlin works closely with the sheriff’s office, at first to capture the animals, and then to solve the mystery of the missing zookeeper. But local good old boys Red O’Brien and Billy Don Craddock just might figure it all out first, after they pick up a hitchhiker with a questionable past and some inside information that makes him a prime suspect.