Houses on the Sand
by Noah Goats
Private InvestigatorsAdded on January 14, 2026
Description
Quincy Logan was only supposed to be in the squalid little desert town for a couple of days. He was there for the funeral of his tough old grandfather, a rancher who had died of a combination of smoking, hard work, and a bad heart. But within hours of Quincy's arrival in Harper's Knob, one of the locals is murdered, and the sheriff seems determined to pin it on the outsider. In order to stay out of prison Quincy will have to solve the murder before the sheriff can frame him for it.
Reader Reviews
Another fun novel by Noah Goats. This time the main character is a Philip Marlowe-type private eye with the heart of a poet, stuck in the desert, accused of murder and surrounded by people who don't like him. It's amazingly fast paced - I was finished before I knew it.
Loved the writer and the settings. Will definitely read another of his books.
Fast paced and engagingGoats' choice of setting is obviously familiar and much beloved. This imbues his descriptions of scenery and characters with an effortless economy. The story moves quickly and engages this reader with ease even though the desert southwest environment is unfamiliar to this Yankee city kid.The greatest flaw may rest with the protagonist, a private investigator from Los Angeles, whose inner monologue sounds a bit too much like something out of Mickey Spillane or Rod Serling.
