I had the pleasure of turning page after page of Phillip T. Stephens’ Cigerets, Guns & Beer well into the wee hours of the morning just to discover what happened next to the quirky main character in this delightful Mystery.

Stephens’ protagonist named by his father as simply Dodd, no middle name and no discernible last name, is a lovable, if unlikely, hero who has recently been released from prison for committing a petty crime. He arrives in the opening scene with an intriguing background as a self-taught prison lawyer with his Juris Doctorate, traveling across the country with all his worldly possessions: a suit bag and a trunk full of books crammed into his classic ’65 blue convertible Mustang. As fortune would have it, he’s stranded in a hot Texas town in August where he picks up a young side-kick who comes with his own serious baggage that makes for an amusing read.

I knew I was in familiar mid-west territory when Dodd pulled into a service gas station sporting a sign on the broken-down storefront window “Cigerets: Two free cartons with any Smith & Wesson. You’re choice Camals or Marlbros [sic].” The book spans more than one mystery, which the small western town has tried to solve for decades.  If bank robbery, murder, corrupt municipality, UFOs, and occasional casual hot sex don’t float your boat, then maybe Dr. Seuss is more your speed.

Stephens’ writing is smart, witty, and engaging on every page. He crafts a story that is layered with mystery and intrigue. Plot is barely noticeable as the story unfolds in what can be described as Murphy’s Law on the road.  His character Dodd seems to find trouble at every turn, which ratchets up the suspense to frenzied levels before the final denouement. I gladly rate this book as a top read!

To read Cigerets, Guns & Beer, and other books by Phillip T. Stephens, visit his Author Page or Amazon.

Visit Phillip T. Stephens on Facebook.

If bank robbery, murder, corrupt municipality, UFOs, and occasional casual hot sex don’t float your boat, then maybe Dr. Seuss is more your speed.

More Phillip T. Stephens Humor

“Phillip T. Stephens writes the biographies for book jacket covers, for which he is far better known than he is for anything else he’s written. This is sad because book jacket biographers are anonymous.” ~Amazon Author Bio

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