The Curious Eat Themselves: A Novel - Softcover

Welcome to Sitka, Alaska, a land of breathtaking vistas and beautiful fauna, where locals are trying their best to be good—and to survive—in what may be the last vestige of the Wild West.

When local woman Louise Root asks private detective Cecil Younger to investigate her rape at the Otter Creek gold mine, he agrees. After all, Louise is a close friend of his ex. Maybe helping her out could improve Hannah’s opinion of him. But before Cecil can make progress on the case, he witnesses Alaska state troopers fishing her body out of the ocean—not exactly the resolution he had in mind.

Despite the unfortunate end his last client met, Cecil finds himself inundated with requests from all sides: his old friend, Officer Doggy, wants help controlling the grieving Hannah; Cecil’s autistic roommate, Todd needs help finding his Labrador retriever; and the sleazy executives of Global Mining want dirt on a local environmental activist—a request even the bungling PI finds suspicious. But Cecil also feels a responsibility to discover the truth behind Louise’s death. If Louise knew a secret that got her killed, Cecil needs to discover and expose the truth before he, too, is permanently silenced.

"The Curious Eat Themselves finds P.I. Cecil Younger in a jam. Louise Root had hired him after she was raped at the Otter Creek gold mine where she was working as a cook. She was the best friend of his ex-girlfriend, Hannah. Louise had come to him for help and now she's being fished out of the ocean, her throat slashed. He has disappointed Hannah once again yet suddenly everyone wants Younger's help: his old friend, Doggy, the D.A.; his autistic roommate, Toddy, whose Labrador retriever has disappeared; an image-conscious environmental activist; even the sleazy executives of Global Mining, whose interest in the case is suspicious. This is no longer a simple investigation, but a complicated murder case involving Global's environmentally incorrect waste disposal program and the implications of dumping cyanide into the ground. Dead bodies are piling up faster than Younger can count and he has his hands full just trying to stay alive, tracking down the suspects and some missing documents which could lead to the truth.