A Guitar, Murder and a Bleating Goat - Robert G Rogers - Bog

Reginald Conrad, State Senator and financial advisor with a less-than-ethical approach to resolving disputes with the IRS for his clients, is a successful businessman that nobody much likes. In fact, most people hate him. When Conrad decides to run for governor, he shows a more likable side, playing guitar at his campaign rallies and promising to improve opportunities and fair pay for women, and to bring more business to the state. His guitar-playing and campaign promises pay off, and he's leading in the polls when somebody hits him over the head with his guitar then shoots him with a .45 caliber automatic. It's a high-profile case the mayor is anxious to solve quickly, so Chief Jenkins asks Bishop Bone to help investigate. Bishop gets nowhere fast, but makes quite a few enemies in the process and gets shot at twice. When he does finally start making headway, another murder with the same gun sends all his theories out the window, and leaves him back at square one trying to ferret out a suspect with a motive for both the murders. As a last resort, Chief Jenkins agrees to Bishop's "bleating goat" ploy used by ranchers to attract mountain lions that are killing their cattle, in order to catch the killer. The only problem with that is, Bishop himself is the bleating goat and ends up in the killer's crosshairs.