Rustwater by J.G. Macdonald Now Available
Posted by BackPack Books on
Rustwater is the third book in the award-winning Jane Dougherty series, following Atomic Sunset and Two Hours to Bedlam. Atomic Sunset won the 2025 Literary Global Book Award and the 2026 Indies Today Best Humor Award, and Two Hours to Bedlam won the 2026 PenCraft Spring Best Book Award for Fiction–Humor.
Welcome to Rustwater
Population: conspiracy theorists, desert eccentrics, and several people who should have stayed on the highway.
Photographer Jane Dougherty is back in Arizona, and this time she’s only planning to attend an awards ceremony.
That plan lasts about a day.
The town has always been a little strange. The water runs red. Compasses don’t behave. And at Greer’s Books, sharp-tongued owner Greer keeps the shelves stocked with local history, conspiracy theories, and enough evidence to make the distinction increasingly difficult.
Then two enthusiastic Swiss tourists arrive looking for proof.
When Jane and geologist Clay Harrow agree to guide them into the desert, a simple expedition quickly goes sideways. Supplies disappear. Donkeys bolt. And before long, Jane is beginning to wonder if Rustwater’s conspiracy theorists might actually have a point.
In Rustwater, every mystery has an explanation.
Probably.
Rustwater is a witty, offbeat Route 66 mystery filled with desert adventure, eccentric characters, local lore, and conspiracies that sound ridiculous right up until they don’t.