Filled with humor and twists, Tingle's debut is a slow burn mystery that could only take place in the South, for fans of Timothy Hallinan and Janet Evanovich.

Private detective Davis Reed didn’t move to Cruso, North Carolina looking for friends. Down on his luck, Davis narrowly escaped an anonymous attempt on his life and fled to the tiny mountain community in order to hide, brew his own beer, and put his detective days behind him to work on a non-fiction book. But as usual with Davis, things aren’t going to plan.

When he finds several keys on a mountain trail near the Blue Ridge Parkway, Davis sets out to locate the rightful owner. Upon discovering that one of the keys fits a vintage BMW owned by a man who’s recently vanished, Davis can’t help but think the keys unlock a mystery, or better yet, a chest full of gold rumored to be hidden somewhere among the mountains of western North Carolina.

But keys that could lead to lost gold are a hot commodity, and Davis needs to outsmart everyone from law enforcement officials to amateur treasure hunters who are willing to do anything to get their hands on them. To make matters worse, people from Davis’s past are catching up to him.

Along with his new best friend, Dale Johnson, a local deputy who knows just how to push Davis’s buttons, and Dale’s cousin Floppy, a mad genius mechanic armed with a heart of gold and a mouth that never stops moving, Davis tries desperately to find lost treasure, start a romance with a smooth talking brewery owner, and most importantly, stay alive.

Graveyard Fields is the first person account of Davis Reed, a former Charleston, South Carolina police officer and private detective who has moved to a small cabin in Cruso, North Carolina to try his hand at writing nonfiction. Davis has a laundry list of dysfunctions and spends most of his days popping Xanax, drinking copious amounts of home brewed beer, and not writing a book. But when he finds a set of keys on a mountain trail he becomes curious, then obsessed, about finding the rightful owner.
With the help of his friend Dale Johnson, a 275 pound local deputy who is as ornery as he is clever, Davis works to uncover the mystery of the keys while navigating a world of small town secrets, bizarre characters, and murder. But Davis has his own secrets and even though he's fled to the mountains some bad business in Charleston is beginning to catch up with him. For an anxiety riddled man looking for peace and quiet Davis somehow stumbles into more chaos and crossfire than any amount of beer and pills can alleviate.

Praise for Graveyard Fields:
“Tingle deftly evokes a very particular sense of place.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Cleverly crafted and original ... the kind of private eye mystery blended with police procedural elements that makes for blockbuster movies.”
—Midwest Book Review

"Lovely North Carolina scenery, plenty of good beer and classic rock 'n roll, and a hell of a fun and clever mystery to follow, Graveyard Fields is right down my alley. If you don't have a blast reading this book, I really can't help you."
—Ace Atkins, New York Times Bestselling author of the Quinn Colson crime novels

“Steven Tingle’s debut novel, Graveyard Fields, is a noteworthy, not to be missed summer read. His flawed, but still likeable protagonist, Davis Reed, narrates and moves the story with wit and pedal to the metal.”
—David Swinson, bestselling author of The Second Girl and City on the Edge

"Steven Tingle possesses a smooth and lyrical cadence that will keep you rolling through the pages of Graveyard Fields like a pick-up joyriding across the North Carolina landscape. This is a gripping read, both energetic and thoughtful, and will carry you deep into the night."
—Michael Farris Smith, author of Nick and Blackwood

"Graveyard Fields starts with a bang then reels you into its foggy aftermath: the day-to-day ennui of Davis Reed, a Xanax-numbed ex-PI-turned-aspiring-writer-in-hiding. Reed’s self-deprecating humor, eviscerating descriptions, and punchy jabs of dialogue are so quotable they may as well be trademarked. When Reed’s small, nagging fixations finally catapult readers into a surreal, hilarious crime novel, the result seizes the breath between wheezes of laughter. Graveyard Fields is a smart, redemptive, and cackle-provoking debut."
—Chris Harding Thornton, author of Pickard County Atlas