Millford County Files

The Unclaimed Field Summary

A county road crew finds an unidentified man in a drainage ditch on Millford County's western edge. Detective Sergeant Garrett Hale of the Millford County Sheriff's Department begins working the case with almost nothing—no name, no record, no obvious crime. The medical examiner rules the death exposure, hypothermia. But the investigation that follows pulls at a quiet, carefully constructed sequence of institutional decisions that stripped a man named Warren Pruett of his job, his housing, and his access to the systems that might have helped him.

The Unclaimed Field is a traditional police procedural set in fictional Millford County, Michigan. The tone is methodical, atmospheric, and morally grounded—closer to Ann Cleeves and Michael Connelly than to thriller or psychological suspense. No graphic violence. No profanity. Approximately 38,000 words. Book 1 of the Millford County Files series.

©2026 Carter Shaw (P)2026 Carter Shaw