The Man in the Grass

The Man in the Grass is book 14 in Chris Culver’s Joe Court police procedural series, featuring Sheriff Mary Joe Court working in rural Missouri. This time, Joe is called to a murder that already feels strange right from the beginning. Danny Handler is forced barefoot through a sleeping neighborhood and then shot dead in Lauren Ellis’s backyard. This happens while Lauren watches from her kitchen window. She is the only eyewitness, but her calm reaction stumps Joe.

Afterall, this is not a normal human reaction to witnessing something like that. As Joe starts digging into the case, the killing seems to connect to an older story involving a sealed juvenile record and accusations that were ignored years before. And if Lauren is really hiding something, Joe has to figure out what is going on before it’s too late.

The Man in the Grass is book 14 in Chris Culver’s Joe Court police procedural series featuring Mary Joe Court, working in St. Augustine County in rural Missouri.

Danny Handler is marched barefoot through a sleeping Missouri neighborhood. He’s bound, terrified, and obedient. Minutes later, he is executed in Lauren Ellis’s backyard while she watches from her kitchen window.

Sheriff Joe Court has three officers, a county full of pressure, and a murder scene that feels wrong from the start. And Lauren, the only eyewitness, is calm in all the wrong ways.

Lauren denies knowing anything about the shooting.

Joe doesn’t believe her.

But as the investigation deepens, the case begins circling an older story buried beneath a sealed juvenile record and allegations no one believed.

Now someone is replaying an old nightmare in real life.

And if Joe can’t untangle truth from performance, trauma from manipulation, and witness from suspect, a killer may finally complete an experiment he began years ago.

The Man in the Grass is the fourteenth book in NY Times’ bestselling author Chris Culver’s Joe Court series. Buy it today and clear your schedule. You’re not going to be getting a lot of sleep.

Part of the Joe Court series – see the full reading order on the Chris Culver Books in Order page.