Short Investigations

by Clair M. Poulson

In the sleepy town of Heber, a strange 911 call is made to report an unthinkable someone has murdered a woman . . . and her body has been found in Rhett Ketchum's barn. Rhett, a well-known rodeo cowboy, is placed firmly at the top of the suspect list the only problem is, he's innocent. As officers search tirelessly for the evidence needed to lock him up, Rhett takes matters into his own hands. Max and Patches Fisher are the father-daughter duo behind the unconventional PI firm Short Investigations, and they agree to undertake the task of proving Rhett's innocence. Soon the list of suspects begins to grow, and Rhett feels a glimmer of hope and an undeniable attraction to Patches. But when the officers on the case become targets themselves, it seems they may be the ones in need of protection. As events take a deadly turn, it's up to Max and Patches to uncover the truth before time runs out.

Genres: Mystery, Lds Fiction, Lds, Suspense, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2018

About the author

Clair M. Poulson was born and raised in Duchesne, Utah. His father was a rancher and farmer, his mother a librarian. Clair has always been an avid reader, having found his love for books as a very young boy.

He has served for forty years in the criminal justice system. Twenty years were spent in law enforcement, ending his police career with eight years as the Duchesne County Sheriff. For the past twenty years Clair has worked as a justice court judge for Duchesne County. Clair is also a veteran of the US Army where he was a military policeman. He has served on various boards and councils during his professional career, including the Justice Court Board of Judges, Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, Utah Judicial Council, Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, an FBI advisory board and others.

In addition to his criminal justice work, Clair has farmed and ranched all of his life. He has raised many kinds of animals, but his greatest interest is horses.

Clair has served in many capacities in the LDS church, including fulltime missionary (California Mission) bishop, counselor to bishop, young men president, high councilor, stake mission president, scoutmaster, High Priest group leader, etc. He currently serves as a Sunday School teacher.

Clair is married to Ruth, and together, they have five children, all of whom are married: Alan (Vicena) Poulson, Kelly Ann (Wade) Hatch, Amanda (Ben) Semadeni, Wade (Brooke) Poulson, and Mary (Tyler) Hicken. Between them they have twenty-three children. Clair and Ruth met while both were students at Snow College and were married in the Manti temple.

Clair has always loved telling his children, and later his grandchildren, make-up stories. His vast experience in life and his love of literature has always contributed to both his telling stories to children and his writing of adventure and suspense novels.

Reviews

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I confess there were a few places where I wanted to yell at the characters to wake up as they were sometimes way too clueless. The plot also got a little complicated at times as the author seemed to keep trying to make everyone look guilty and the resolution seemed odd compared to how the story built but it was exciting in places and overall I enjoyed the read.

[Ranee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The first part of the book I was just trying to get through it to find out what happens - the police didn't seem to be doing basic investigation work very well, especially with the bad cop with his own agenda, there were some very obvious, unnecessary dialog about what was going on, & just corny flirtation. It did get better & have some interesting twists. A pretty quick, clean who-dunnit.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may be his best book yet.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the sleepy town of Heber, a strange 911 call is made to report an unthinkable crime: someone has murdered a woman and her body has been found in Rhett Ketchum's barn. Rhett, a well-known rodeo cowboy , is placed at the top of the suspect list. The only problem is, he's innocent. As officers search tirelessly for the evidence needed to lock him up, Rhett takes matters into his own hands.
Max and Patches Fisher are the father-daughter due behind the unconventional PI firm Short Investigations, and they agree to undertake the task of proving Rhett's innocence. Soon the list of suspects begins to grow, and Rhett feels a glimmer of hope--and an undeniable attraction to Patches. But when the officers on the case become targets themselves, it seems they may be the ones in need of protection. As events take a deadly turn, it's up to Max and Patches to uncover the truth before time runs out.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun listen - reader did a good job. This is a murder mystery with a little light, clean romance thrown in. Some of the dialog was a bit corny but overall it was a fun distraction. As I read about the author I can see why this is about a rodeo guy, a sheriff, detectives, crimes, investigation, etc. Those things were a big part of his life. Unbridled hatred is something he may have seen - but I have only read about (thank goodness!). There were a few twists and turns with a number of suspects but much of the mystery was easy to figure out. I liked Max and Patches Fisher and can see sequels for the Short Investigation team.

[Bonnie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't a fan of this book overall. it felt like it was trying to decide between being a mystery and a romance and failed at both. As if a woman could have nothing in her head but a man while trying to do her job. It was way too simple for me to enjoy it. the few Mormon coins scattered around the book didn't really fit the storyline. Just there so that it would sell at deseret book. Not much of a read if you enjoy suspense and good foreshadowing.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book to be enjoyable until the end.. The end, well, just ended. It explained who did what but there wasn't a real climax to the book. What could have and SHOULD have been an exciting ended was just boring and ended outside of the book, if that makes sense.
With a different way of ending the book I could have rated the book 4 or even 5 stars.. As it was, I gave it a mediocre 3 stars.

[Kevin Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another quick read. This story id different from the other books I've read. In it the author uses a PI agency to help the police with their murder investigation. And as always there is a love story mixed in with the main person. This takes place in small town Utah but includes several states as the story goes on. There are several people of interest as the police call them and as expected another plot twist.

[Susan Bradshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just like Clair M. Poulson's books. The relationships of the people and where they live are close to my home and I can almost see these places as many I have actually been too. It has a mix of another crime too! Interesting name of the daughter who has a PI business with her father. Patches is her name, it makes me wonder where that came from. She and her father, Max work well with the police department which I am quite surprised that the police let them be so involved.

[Tafta Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Clair M. Poulson as an author He has mystery, but does not use profanity or sexual scenes.

I hope he will write more with the Short Investigation team. I like the characters he developed in this cowboy mystery.

Rhett Ketchum is accused of murdering a former girlfriend. The Short Investigation team must prove he did not.

Good, easy book on CD.

[Tonya · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was fine. Not great, but fine.
But, the writing! So. Bad.
Distracting bad. Found myself groaning constantly.
I would love to love more LDS writers but alas, until Deseret Book and Covenant Communications are more consistent in the quality of what they publish, I'll probably just steer clear.

[Kari Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I think this has become my favorite Clair Poulson novel. I am a huge Perry Mason fan, and I could easily imagine this story in an episode. I solved the case...after a fashion. It wasn't quite the way I imagined though.

[SG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would’ve been 4 if it weren’t for so much “utah” slang in regards to the geography. Having lived in utah for a while I understood the areas being described but without that knowledge I’d have felt a bit lost.

[Mikaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was good and it was refreshing reading a book that wasn't full of swearing, but too often the dialogue was way cheesy and hard to get through.. the main reason I finished this book was to get to the resolve/ end the murder mystery.

[Betty Ann Baer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story about Short investigation helping the police solve the crime and of course a little love going on.

[Sonja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy Mr. Poulson's books! This one was another fun read.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book the mystery was easy

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy mystery read. It isn't my favorite from Poulson, but a fun read. I guessed who did it pretty early on, but getting to the conclusion wasn't as cut and dried as I expected.

[Susan Forsgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reader needs a scorecard to keep track of all the suspects, their motives and whereabouts.
Breathtakingly fast action and enthralling characters.
If you are a mystery fan, this is a must.

[Nicole Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my most favorite books from this author!

[Kathy]

good one

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two men nicknamed Shorty. One being framed for murder and the other and his daughter Patches hired to prove he didn't do it. Good read.

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of moving around - good read!

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story. I thought the ending was a bit abrupt. The main characters were likeable. I was curious to why one of the characters was named Patches. I would have liked an explanation.

[KarenDalebout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the read!

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan of the dialogue, and the "romance" was awkward.

[Caroline Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read! I was guessing the whole time!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many suspects, twists and turns. More than usual. I hope Short investigations shoes up in more books!

[Shae Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story and lead up but in the end they never quite tell you how they figured it out...

[Kaitlyn Jeppson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like the concept of this story was solid but I give it two stars because it’s so poorly written.