Contrary, West Virginia, a sleepy town with failing coal mines, has an urgent need for revenue. A federal grant for a non-existent bus system meets that need, until a government auditor consumes too much white lightning and dies under mysterious circumstances. When the Department of Transportation sends Owen Allison to sort things out, Owen decides to let the phony bus subsidy continue until another body surfaces and Owen fears that he may be the next to die. This Mystery Company edition restores to print the first novel in the Owen Allison series.

Failure analyst Owen Allison is called home to West Virginia. His mother is convinced that a skeleton unearthed by a construction crew belongs to Owens father, believed drowned decades ago. Owens brother George, a highway commissioner, is battling alcohol, a bureaucratic boss and environmentalists determined to stop highway expansion. When a protestor is murdered, George is the prime suspect. Owen investigates mysteries in the states past and his own family history to save his brother. This Mystery Company edition restores to print the second novel in the Owen Allison series.