Old Money by Bobby Cole

We’ve reviewed a few authors whose main character is a state game warden. Time to add another. This time it’s Mississippi.

Jake Crosby gave up the stock broker life to return to his native Mississippi to become a game warden. Newly hired (via some back room arm twisting by a Federal judge), Jake is trying to prove himself worthy to his partner, the long-time warden (a stereotypical Mississippi good old boy) Virgil Fain. A career state employee who never puts in one minute over his required 40hr/week.

Bronson Bolivar up and died in prison. Always one to look for an easy buck, he looked a little too hard a few times and got put away. No wife. His latest wife was a gypsy who just took off one day. Bronson’s only marginally (and legally) successful business was installing and servicing septic tanks. Apparently, one of his less than legal ventures paid off and it was rumored he had stashed a couple million dollars somewhere on his (1000 acre) property. But his twin children, Chance (muscle-bound doofus) and Chase (uppity white trash chick) were never told about the money’s whereabouts nor were they able to find it. When Bronson’s cellmate is paroled, they figure this guy must have some information.

Jake’s supporter on the federal bench, Judge Ransom Rothbone is nearing retirement, but asks Jake to keep an eye on the Bolivar twins. Now that daddy is dead, they might start getting antsy about the hidden money and go ballistic if the money isn’t found. Plus, the Judge’s wife is in need of a kidney transplant, but judges are that well paid, so he is looking for a way to come up with a lot of money. You can see where this is heading.

So while their daddy’s cellmate may well know something about the money, he ain’t talking, hoping to grab it all for himself. Chase Bolivar dreams up an idea to make some quick cash. Turns out that the explorer DeSoto went through their part of the state. She buys a cheap knockoff of a Spanish explorer’s helmet on eBay, tells the cellmate about it hoping he’ll tell a contact in New Orleans, one Fabian Antoinette (under Federal surveillance for, among other things, counterfeiting) to act as a middleman. A real helmet should fetch $5 million.

When the exchange is made, Mississippi game wardens, state and local police, and the feds all descend leading to one wild chase (no pun intended) through the Mississippi backwoods.

A decent story, well told by Cole. Crosby is easy to like as he tries to learn his way around becoming a game warden. Maybe not as experienced or slick as CJ Box’s Joe Pickett, I do see Cole developing Crosby into, if not a quality warden, then a competent, but slightly confused/naïve warden. Definitely worth another look. This is the 3rd in the series.

East Coast Don