Bellingham author McKinney pens small-town Northwest crime novel

If you want to brighten up these dreary late-autumn days, trot out to your favorite independent bookstore and get yourself a good locally set crime novel. Two new books, both set in the 1990s, exude retro poignancy as well as Northwest atmosphere.
"Darkness Bids the Dead Goodbye" is the latest offering by Bellingham author Gary McKinney.
The lead character, Willapa County sheriff and Grateful Dead fan Gavin Pruitt, was introduced in a previous book called "Slipknot." In "Darkness," Pruitt is back, newly married to his pregnant sweetheart Molly and also bracing to become a grandfather for the first time as his grown daughter Olivia copes with her first pregnancy.