'In Cold Blood' is the eighteenth in the continuing series of Jess Williams westerns by Robert J. Thomas. Jess is on the hunt for the last of the four men who ambushed him and left him for dead. Once that was finished, he would hunt down the four outlaws who led the bloody night raid on Mattie Smith's ranch. His hunt is quickly interrupted when he receives a wire from his good friend Mayor Jim Smythe of Black Creek, Kansas, requesting that Jess return to his home town immediately to help solve some very strange and brutal murders. Jess returns to his hometown to discover that the murders are continuing in Black Creek. Jess tries to catch the elusive killer, following the few clues left by the killer, but his search takes him to several other small towns surrounding Black Creek where the same brutal murders are taking place. To make matters worse, Jess has devised a plan to trick the four men who led the night raid on Mattie Smith's ranch to travel to Black Creek. The four men are all cold-blooded killers and Jess has to face them down and survive so that he can continue his hunt for the elusive killer near his hometown.