City Problems

Steve Goble

Jul 2021 · Oceanview Publishing

About this ebook

A moment of violence—a snap judgement—a life changed to the core

Ed Runyon bolted from the NYPD after a runaway teen case fell through the cracks and turned into a nightmarish murder. Now, he's learned to bury the rage that consumed him, cope with depression, and enjoy life as a Mifflin County sheriff's detective in rural Ohio.

Ed is trying to relax on his day off when Columbus PD Detective Shelly Beckworth comes to Mifflin County in search of a girl who vanished after a pop-up party. The clues are scarce—a few license plates, a phone shattered on the roadside—but the trail leads to Ed's neck of the woods.

He tries to shove everything else aside to keep this case from ending in another tragedy, but a cop can't pick and choose which calls to duty he'll answer. Frustrated, Ed watches a happy ending slip beyond sight—this one he cannot run away from.

Charging forward, Ed breaks rules and takes risks leading to a bloody confrontation where everything he believes as a cop and every ghost in his head clash—a moment of avenging violence that will ultimately change his life to the core.

Perfect for fans of Robert Crais and John Sanford

While the novels in the Ed Runyon Mystery Series stand on their own and can be read in any order, the publication sequence is:

City Problems
Wayward Son
Go Find Daddy (coming 2023)

Ratings and reviews

This is the first book that I've read by Mr. Goble and it was a very good surprise. He has put together a good story, with interesting and fallible characters (just like us readers), after a slow beginning the story gets speed and all the reader wants to do is to reach the end to understand the plot fully. I'll be looking for other titles by this author. I thank the author, his publisher, and NetGalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I received an electronic ARC of this excellent police procedural from Netgalley, Steve Goble, and Oceanview Publishing. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Steve Goble is an author I will follow, and one I am pleased to recommend to friends and family. He writes a compelling tale with sympathetic, stalwart protagonists, old-fashioned heroes, and heroines doing their best to keep their world safe for all. Ed Runyon was a cop in NYC who walked away after the search for a missing teenaged girl, a possible run-away, pretty and blonde, went wrong. The case was bumped several times by cases more immediate, more 'important', and Ed eventually found her tortured and nailed to a wall. That day he drove west as far as Ohio, where he eventually found a job with the Mifflin County Sheriff's Office, hoping to end his policing days chasing cows off the road and arresting shoplifters and Friday-night drunks. But there are pretty, blond teenaged girls in Ohio, too. And there are also monsters, hiding in the cornfields. Assisting Detective Michelle 'Shelly' Beckworth with the Columbus, Ohio Police Department looking for a missing 16-year-old girl from her neck of the woods, Ed finds himself immersed again in his worse nightmare. Possibly a runaway from Upper Arlington, missing for only two days but a girl with good grades, no record, and a campaign-contributing father, Megan Beemer was last seen at a dance in Columbus on Saturday night. Columbus is in Franklin County. Their most important clue - there were many license plates from Mifflin County in the parking lot of the Columbus, Ohio venue as the band 'Soul Scrapped' from Mifflin County and Hollis High School was the entertainment. Hoping for the best, Ed takes Shelly under his wing as they try to follow the trail of this missing girl. Ed is contending with nightly nightmares again and finds his days frantic and depressing and more indicative of Mifflin Counties' involvement in what looks more and more like a repeat of Ed's NYC final case. There are times when he is diverted by his SWAT duties or more pressing cases when Ed is afraid he cannot hold it all together long enough to solve this mystery. There are times Shelly isn't too sure, either.

About the author

Steve Goble is a lifelong Ohio resident and a former journalist. He now works for a digital investigations firm as he reinvents himself as a mystery novel writer. His Spider John historical mysteries are known for darkly humorous characters and salty dialogue. City Problems is the first in the Ed Runyon Mystery Series. Steve lives in rural Ohio with his family and their two dogs.