Clea's Moon by Edward Wright

A John Ray Horn Thriller

John Ray Horn is a former rodeo bronc-rider turned B-Western star who tanked his career when he decked the son of the head of his studio, putting the guy in the hospital with a broken jaw. He did two years in prison for that, and when he returned, he discovered that his old boss had blacklisted him and his acting career was over. His faithful Indian sidekick, Joseph Mad Crow, had invested his earnings from the movies and bought a poker parlor/casino on the edge of L.A., so he offers Horn a job collecting bad debts from gamblers. Horn reluctantly takes it, though he hates the work.

When a friend, Scotty Bullard, approaches him with some intriguing information about Horn's former step-daughter (the wife divorced him while he was in jail), he decides to look into things. But when Bullard apparently committs suicide just before Horn goes to visit - he knows it can't be true so wants to find out the truth there too.

But most of all Horn wants to find Clea, his former step-daughter who has been missing for over a week.  She's barely 16 and he's worried by her sudden disappearance.  He knows it must be related to the photos Bullard showed him before he died.  When he looks more carefully at the photos he actually recognizes the location as a cabin he used to go to when he will worked for the studio.  Now Horn is on the hunt for the people behind the photos, death of Bullard and Clea's disappearance.  But will he be able to figure it out before they get him.

This felt very realistic look at the time of the western movies and when Hollywood was still a romantic place to come find your fame. But it shows the seedy side of the industry as well.  I enjoyed the complexity of John Ray Horn's character and his relationships with his former side-kick now boss Joseph Mad Crow and tries to reconsile with former friends.  An interesting look at time period that I don't know much about but since I've lived in LA it intrigues me.