2021 Spur Award Finalist (Best Western Historical Novel) 2021 Silver Falchion Award Finalist (Best Investigator) Against his better judgment, Hollywood-hating private investigator Nate Ross takes on a Tinseltown case in the spring of 1938. It sounds like a milk run: find an alcoholic screenwriter whose absence is stalling production on Republic Pictures' latest Western. But when the missing rummy turns up dead, and Nate learns that somebody's going to lethal lengths to keep Stardust Trail from being made, his simple case becomes far more complex, and deadly. He finds himself traveling in unfamiliar territory: the world of B-movie cowboys, and the lines between the "reel" West and the real West begin to blur as Nate wrangles a twisted case of murder and sabotage pointing back nearly forty years to a bloody, real-life "Wild West" crime. Stardust Trail  was a 2021 Spur Award Finalist (Western Writers of America) for Best Historical Novel, and a Silver Falchion Award Finalist (Killer Nashville) for Best Investigator. "The plot has more twists and turns than a snorty bronc, taking you through the world of low-budget Westerns and lowlife hoods, down mean streets and into rugged canyons. It's a wild ride, but a fun one all the way." -- Western Way Magazine "J.R. Sanders, through Nate Ross, spins us a story with 1938 household names - Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Yakima Canutt...John Wayne. Pick up Stardust Trail, get comfy in your favorite spot with your favorite beverage, tune out distractions - unless you've got music by Gene Autry or Dave Stamey handy - and settle in for an enjoyable ride along the Stardust Trail." -- Six-Gun Justice Podcast "J.R. Sanders strides confidently into the world of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. The writing is breezy and smart." -- Henry's Western Round-up J.R. Sanders is a native Midwesterner and longtime denizen of the L.A. suburbs. J.R.'s nonfiction articles appear in such magazines as Law & Order and Wild West. His nonfiction books cover topics as diverse as Southern California apple farms and Old West lawmen killed in the line of duty. His first Nate Ross novel, Stardust Trail, was a 2021 Spur Award Finalist (for Best Historical Novel), and Silver Falchion Award Finalist (for Best Investigator). His second Nate Ross novel, Dead-Bang Fall, was a 2023 Shamus Award Winner for Best Paperback PI Novel. J.R. lives in Southern California with his wife and two rescue dogs.