Nail Knot

When the going gets tough, Ned "Dog" Oglivie goes fly fishing.

Driven by tragedy to turn his back on human society, the Dog is on a quest to trout-fish himself into oblivion all across America. Plying the back highways of the country in an old RV, provisioned with a supply of peanut butter sandwiches, bad cigars, and a loaded pistol (for when the money runs out), the Dog rolls into little Black Earth, Wisconsin, intending to fish the yellow sally stonefly hatch...and stumbles upon a body instead.

Who killed Jake Jacobs, a fellow fly fisher who was trying to save Black Earth Creek? Why was he disfigured in such a peculiar way? Why does the Dog even give a damn? By caring about the death of a stranger, can the Dog recover his own life? And can he untie the nail knot in this "well-written, humorous, and engaging mystery" (Anthony Naples, Casting Around)?