The Ragged End of Nowhere Book

Bodo Hagen thought his family had left Las Vegas for good. He had joined the CIA and moved to Berlin, while his younger brother had followed in their father’s footsteps and joined the French Foreign Legion. For a while they were free from the criminal underworld upon which the Vegas Strip was built.

But when his Legion contract ended, Bodo's brother returned to Las Vegas. Five days later his body was found on the edge of the desert. Word is that he’d returned from Europe with a valuable—and possibly stolen—ancient relic to sell. Now Bodo must come back and track down that missing artifact—and with it, his brother’s killer.

A quick-witted, fast-paced novel that shines a sharp new light on Las Vegas, The Ragged End of Nowhere was awwarded the 2008 Tony Hillerman Prize for best debuty mystery set in the American Southwest.

Publishers Weekly

Winner of the second Tony Hillerman Prize, Chaney's promising debut is set in sometimes glitzy, often tawdry Las Vegas far removed from Hillerman's New Mexico.Bodo Hagen is CIA, but his return to Las Vegas after 10 years is entirely personal. Bodo's brother, Ronnie, was shot to death at Hoover Dam just days after Ronnie came back to Vegas from a stint with the French Foreign Legion. As Bodo retraces his brother's steps, he gets reacquainted with a slew of rough characters from his past, including John McGrath, the cop investigating Ronnie's killing; Marty Ray, owner of a small casino called Diamond Jim's; and an old girlfriend, Maxine Peach. Bodo learns that Ronnie was trying to fence a rare artifact with a strange past that others are willing to buy or kill for. While the plot isn't terribly suspenseful, Chaney has a knack for deft characterization, and uses Ronnie's French Foreign Legion connection to great effect. The ambiguous ending suggests a sequel. (Nov.)