In Stray Shot, the latest installment in this popular series, Simon joins forces with Calder, as the two investigate a dognapping that rapidly turns ugly.When Simon's dog is stolen during a hunt, and another disappears on the same day, at first it seems just a freak incident; but when one dog reappears, only to be stolen again - along with some samples of a revolutionary new shotgun cartridge - it becomes clear that something more foul is afoot.As Simon traces the scent across the Atlantic, and dognapping turns to murder, Keith Calder finds himself embroiled in a mystery that takes all his wits, and those of Simon as well, to solve."This delightful mystery introduces a bemused Englishman to the colorful residents of the Scottish countryside. Hammond deftly builds his characters using a light touch; his firm sense of place and time unveil Scotland through the eyes of a newcomer." - Publishers Weekly"The oddball likability of Scottish rural eccentrics has been a constant in the Keith Calder mysteries, producing a combination of quirky charm and unsentimental warmth akin to that in Bill Forsyth's films ( Local Hero, Gregory's Girl, et al.). . . . Finding a meticulously plotted mystery hidden beneath the local color should surprise no one familiar with the previous Calder tales." - BooklistBorn in 1926, Gerald Hammond lived in Scotland, where he retired from his profession as an architect in 1982 to pursue his love of shooting and fishing and to write full time. After his first novel, Fred in Situ, was published in 1965, Gerald became a prolific author with over 70 published novels. Most of his novels were published under his own name, but he also wrote under the pseudonyms Arthur Douglas and Dalby Holden.