Former prosecutor Cal Claxton left the stress behind from the Los Angeles mind crush after the death of his wife. He semi-retired to Willamette wine country near Portland, Oregon, seeking a peaceful existence. His goal? To begin a one-man law practice in Dundee, apply his legal skills to taxes, wills and contracts, and open a one-day-a-week pro bono storefront office in Portland.

Cal figures he’ll have plenty of time to improve his fly fishing skills in some of the finest trout and salmon fishing rivers in the West. He can roam the rolling hills with Archie, his Australian shepherd, and hone his culinary expertise in the kitchen of the hilltop house he calls the Aerie. However, he soon learns that semi-retirement is a pipe dream and that defending people instead of prosecuting them are of two different worlds.

"I’ve become a fan of Warren C. Easley, not only for his near-perfect pacing but also for the twists and turns taken in his novels. NO WAY TO DIE is the seventh in a series of tightly crafted whodunits..."

Cal’s daughter, Claire, arrives from Boston on a two-week hiatus from her post-doctoral studies in environmental science at Harvard to enjoy a stay at a client’s luxurious cabin on the Millicoma River. Cal and Claire’s to-do list involves hiking, leisurely strolls with Archie on the southern coastal beaches at Coos Bay, and instructing Claire on the fine art of barbless fly fishing for the famous steelhead trout. On their first day out, Claire, who is elated after snaring and releasing one of these rare beauties, spots a human body in the water. It is a male, hog-tied and clearly the victim of a sadistic murder. They pull him out, find his ID, call 911 and await the authorities.

Days later, grounded by stormy weather, Cal and Claire stop by a bookshop where Cal overhears a conversation and recognizes the victim’s name. They find out that the bookshop owner knew him, and that he was a friend of her grandson, Kenny Sanders, who is serving a life sentence for a violent murder she swears he did not commit. She learns of Cal’s reputation and begs for his help. Kenny was only 16 years old when he was pressured into a false confession, found guilty and sentenced to life. Appeals have been exhausted, but she pleads with Cal to dig into new evidence based on clues from his friend’s murder.

I’ve become a fan of Warren C. Easley, not only for his near-perfect pacing but also for the twists and turns taken in his novels. NO WAY TO DIE is the seventh in a series of tightly crafted whodunits that reward readers by fleshing out the main characters, Cal’s entourage of colorful assistants --- including his Cuban American investigator, Hernando Mendoza, and his beleaguered office manager, who despairs that his billable hours fall short of expenses as he expands his do-gooding to yet another cause --- and the shifting status of his love interests.

The suspect list of who really killed the individual that led to Kenny’s imprisonment gets longer as the search for the truth grows cold. And now Cal and Claire need to discover who murdered the latest victim. Is it the same person, or someone trying to cover up the prior crime? Claire shows innate investigative skills as she and her father, Hernando and even Archie find themselves in danger as they hunt down two sets of killers, past and present. An attempt on their lives as they begin to ask questions only makes them concentrate their focus on freeing Kenny.

Easley is one of those authors I would enjoy having as a dinner partner, especially if he’s cooking. He can make a three-egg omelet composed of Northwest coastal cuisine, and refrigerator leftovers with herbs from his garden sound like it came from a Michelin menu. And what he pulls together to build a Cuban grilled fish taco is downright sinful.