The Curious Eat Themselves

The second book in the Cecil Younger P.I. series set in Sitka, Alaska

When Louise Root, a new client of Cecil Younger, is found murdered, the private investigator finds himself in the middle of a web of secrets and deadly repercussions—usually not found in the world of environmental politics. Not only that, it seems everyone suddenly wants Younger's help: his old friend, Doggy, the DA; his autistic roommate, Todd, whose Labrador retriever has disappeared; an image-conscious environmental activist; and even the sleazy executives of Global Mining, whose interest in the case is a more than a little suspicious.

In the midst of all this, Younger is wrecked by guilt, and his personal life is fraying as he tries to keep his drinking under control. He's got his hands full trying to juggle his lingering emotions over his ex-lover, the multiple investigations, and simply trying to stay alive.

The youngest of five children, John Straley was born in Redwood City, California, in 1953. He received a BA in English from the University of Washington and, at the urging of his parents, a certificate of completion in horse shoeing. John never saw himself living in Alaska (where there are no horses left to shoe), but when his wife, Jan, a prominent whale biologist, announced she was taking a job in Sitka, the two headed north and never left. John worked for thirty years as a criminal defense investigator in Sitka, and many of the characters that fill his books were inspired by his work. Now retired, he lives with his wife in a bright green house on the beach and writes in his weather-tight office overlooking Old Sitka Rocks. The former Writer Laureate of Alaska, he is the author of ten novels.