Capitol Punishment

The job seems simple enough: Reporter Lee Hershey needs protection for a couple of weeks as he pursues the biggest story of his career with all eyes on swing state Ohio in the midst of a presidential election. Columbus private eye Andy Hayes, broke as usual, doesn’t have much choice but to sign on, even with his girlfriend falling for the charming journalist.Then murder strikes at the Statehouse and Andy finds himself partly responsible for the death. With an innocent man behind bars, a mysterious vehicle following Andy around the city, and more lives in danger, the detective has his hands full trying to solve a killing in a poisonous political environment where everyone has a motive for murder and anyone could be the next target.

“Hayes’ beer isn’t the sole heady brew in this fine example of political noir, for which aficionados of smart crime fiction will vote with enthusiasm.”, “Ohio politics provide the backdrop for Welsh-Huggins’s nicely plotted third mystery featuring disgraced former OSU quarterback Andy Hayes (after 2015’s Slow Burn). …Andy must navigate a minefield of powerful personalities with few inhibitions in a cautionary tale that’s a perfect read in an election year.”, “Capitol Punishment is an entertaining private eye novel…Andy is a likable, cynical, at times humorous, and always witty protagonist with a penchant for trouble.”

The job seems simple enough: Reporter Lee Hershey needs protection for a couple of weeks as he pursues the biggest story of his career with all eyes on swing state Ohio in the midst of a presidential election. Columbus private eye Andy Hayes, broke as usual, doesn’t have much choice but to sign on, even with his girlfriend falling for the charming journalist.Then murder strikes at the Statehouse and Andy finds himself partly responsible for the death. With an innocent man behind bars, a mysterious vehicle following Andy around the city, and more lives in danger, the detective has his hands full trying to solve a killing in a poisonous political environment where everyone has a motive for murder and anyone could be the next target.