Pelham Fell Here offers readers Frank Johnson's rich back story, an unusual departure from most of today's private eye series. We learn how the ex-military cop and part-time gunsmith Frank, now back living in his hometown of Pelham, Virginia, gets into the private investigator racket. He discovers somebody has killed his cousin Cody Chapman with a twelve-gauge shotgun blast. Enraged, Frank wants some answers and wants them fast. Was Cody involved in an illegal arms smuggling scheme? The disturbing mystery grows deeper when a pair of murderous deputy sheriffs ambush Frank on the river. After killing them in self-defense, Frank must take it on the lam while he continues his investigation, relying on his wits and smarts. Eventually, he finds a vicious group of Neo-Nazis holed up in a remote mountain castle may be behind his Cody's murder. Frank realizes he's outnumbered and outgunned, but it hardly deters him from seeing the fight through to the end. Luckily, a couple of bounty hunter pals, Gerald and his kid brother Chet Peyton, throw in with Frank to even the odds. Events heat up to a frenetic pace until the climatic moment when Frank finds himself entangled in a dogfight for his very life.
“Ed Lynskey's new novel Pelham Fell Here is a delight. With a plot as complex as your grandmother's crocheted doilies, Mr. Lynskey creates a portrait of the rural hill country that rings as true as the clank of a Copenhagen can on a PBR can, as does his handle on guns, love, and betrayal. This a novel well worth the read and makes me want more.”
James Crumley, author of The Last Good Kiss