Short Straw reintroduces Santa Fe lawyer Ed Eagle, who first appeared in Stuart Woodss 1992 thriller, Santa Fe Rules. In his first adventure, Ed fell in love with the seductive Barbara Kennerly, and married her-against his better judgment. Turns out that Ed should have listened to his intuition. Ed Eagle awakens the morning after his fortieth birthday to find that Barbara has vanished, and Eds money-from his business, his bank, and his brokerage accounts-has been wired to the Cayman Islands. Barbara, it appears, had drugged his birthday wine, neatly cleaned him out and then fled to Mexico, from where she cant be extradited. And as if that werent bad enough, when Ed arrives at work that morning he discovers that hes been assigned a new client who looks like nothing but trouble-Joe Big Bear, a part-time mechanic charged with a triple homicide.
