This remarkable and disturbing thriller, Murder in Inyo County, is utterly unforgettable.

Between 1932 and 1942, five murders occurred in Inyo County. Each of the murders was identical, hands tied behind their backs, hung upside down, one foot off the floor of the deserted barn each was found in, and their throats were all slit from ear to ear, leaving blood under their heads-all these men, unnamed drifters, passing through the high desert alone. The Sheriff was Merrill Cobb from 1920 to 1956. He never found the murderer and never arrested anyone. Now, fifteen years later, in October 1957, the murderer has returned.

On July 4, 1957, the wife and daughter of the newly elected Sheriff of Inyo County, California, Jim Cobb, are instantly killed in a car crash on their way to Los Angeles. Jim Cobb becomes a drunk for the four months since their deaths by way of a leave of absence from his elected duty.

A week after the Hanging Murderer returns, the body of Jim's best friend, Barton Haskel, from the Sheriff's Office, is found dead. Jim knows Barton didn't commit suicide. Now, there are two murders to solve.

Jim doesn't know it yet, but a man is driving around in a 1940 Chevy truck, killing innocent men and women during his travels.