The Rotting Whale A Hugo Sandoval EcoMystery

In this first case in the new Hugo SandovalEco-Mystery series, an old-school San Francisco building inspector with histrademark Borsalino fedora, must reluctantly venture outside his beloved cityand find his sea legs before he can solve the mystery of how a 90-ton bluewhale became stranded, twice, in a remote inlet off the North Coast.When a blue whale is struck bya research vessel off the north coast of California, San Francisco’s eccentricbuilding inspector Hugo Sandoval is catapulted from his precious San Franciscowaterfront nearly two hundred miles north to the headlands of a troubled sheepranch in response to a call for help from his cetologist daughter.This episode is set on the turbulent MendocinoCoast against the backdrop of a failing fishing fleet, illegal cannabis grows,and the struggling town of Fort Bragg. At the precarious Chicken Cove, hegrapples with the connection between a red tag posted on the historic ranch andthe decomposing marine mammal at the foot of its cliffs.The new eco-mystery series tracks the collisionof the man-made environment and nature while simultaneously charting Hugo’s ownpersonal evolution as a husband, father, and native son.A charming cast of secondary characters who revelin the unassuming man’s perceptive abilities, while overlooking his manyidiosyncrasies, provide assists in solving the mysteries. We meet Carmen, hiscorporate lawyer ex-wife; T. Ray, his best friend and fellow sleuth; hisintuitive assistant Mrs. Dunne who steers their office on Otis Street, as wellas the many regulars who populate Sandoval’s San Francisco.Immersed in the noir of The City, the resistantHugo Sandoval is a media darling, reluctant bachelor, and people’s herofighting the good fights in a modern era that—with each requestedpermit—attempts to eclipse the old San Francisco Sandoval loves.