After a five year absence, Tom arrives back in his old mountain town, intent on just catching up, not staying long. After acquiring a horse, and being adopted by a half Bloodhound named Smokey, things get interesting...
Someone is decimating wildlife populations, and it's up to Tom and Smokey to "read the signs" in order to catch the perpetrators. Good, above average read by this author. ( )

Tom Rainse really has no business buying a horse. His trip to Tanner’s Mountain is only scheduled to last a few days – just long enough for him to pick up his gear from his former home and high-tail it back to California where he’s been livin’ for the last five years. But this horse… a beautiful white pinto with black splotches…. Surely Fred Larsen will give him the horse for cheap, and when he’s done with him, he can give him to Bill Tolliver. Tolliver can appreciate good horseflesh.

But Larsen is inclined to be suspicious. He loads a passel of questions off on Rainse: Who is he? Why is he here? How long will he be staying? Gone is the simple trust that once prevailed in Hilldale. Rainse knows that something is different on his mountain, something is wrong. But what can it be? He intends to find out.

It turns out that a ring of poachers led by the dangerous man who identifies himself as Black Elk – a man not known by any but his followers – has been ruthless in its devastation of the wildlife on Tanner’s Mountain. In defiance of the gaming statutes and the residing warden, this ring openly kills and commercially sells the pelts of deer, beaver, and elk.

But not any more. Rainse, in retaliation to a threat, has decided to join the warden, Buck Brunt, in his pursuit of these outlaws. With the help of his new dog, Smoky, and his pinto, Pete, Rainse’s outfit begins to stalk the poachers. As the stakes fly high, will Rainse and Smoky pull through? Will they capture the poachers or be razed down as the evil doers continue to exploit the mountain?

Conclusion. A Nose for Trouble was a delight to read; it was long enough to be well-developed, but not so long that it dragged.

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