Stockcar driver Kurt Maxxon returns in a fast-paced mystery that combines detailed racing scenes with an interesting murder mystery. Still recuperating from massive injuries he sustained in a crash in the Masonville Oval the year before, Maxxon arrives late Friday evening in Kings Rapids for a race.

After setting up his camper in the infield for the weekend stay, he notices a light on in one of the garages. Seeing no one around, he walks over to lock down the garage to keep the driver’s tools safe. As he does so, he discovers the body of local race driver Rusty Gallegar.

The police soon arrest Alisa Sharpe, Rusty's live-in lover who Rusty had kicked out of his home just a week before his death. However, Kurt's friend Mutt Sparks, chief sports reporter for the local paper, believes otherwise and convinces Kurt to look into the case.

As Kurt begins to search for clues, he also spends time running practice laps in preparation for Sunday’s race and works on training his new puppy, Beau. Thankfully joining Kurt for the weekend is longtime friend Christina Zouhn, who spends quality time with Beau and lends her support as Kurt becomes increasingly involved in solving the crime.

As in many cases, Kurt finds the handsome Rusty was living a double life. He repaired the vehicles of well-to-do women, trading sex for keeping the vehicular damage a secret from their husbands.

Kings Rapids follows the debut Kurt Maxxon mystery, Masonville. Author Jim Overturf keeps the characters, locations, and timeline easy to follow by noting the date and approximate time such as morning, evening, early evening, and so forth, throughout the book.

He also indicates who that particular portion of writing is about. There are a number of people involved, and he makes it easy for the reader to follow the somewhat complicated plot.

Also enjoyable is reading a racing mystery written by a man. I've read several books about racing written by women, but Overturf has a way with detailed description that shows he knows what he is talking about as an insider.

There is plenty of detail to keep the reader sensing they are part of the story. He also keeps the reader in suspense until the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed Kings Rapids and look forward to the next Kurt Maxxon racing mystery!

A special thank you goes to Author Marketing Experts, Inc. for providing a free copy of Kings Rapids for me to review. If you would like to purchase a copy of Kings Rapids or Masonville, you can follow this link to Amazon.com.