No Straight Thing - Nelson Smith F.

Depression Era Alberta is miserable and cruel, but WWI vet, Fergus Muir and his father are getting by. Plagued by guilt and memories of war, Fergus goes through life detached and cynical until he meets a young girl, Cat Perkins, who is the spitting image of his late wife. 

Cat watches helplessly as her family disintegrates. Everyone she cares for is vanishing before her eyes, leaving her all alone. When Cat gets into trouble, Fergus is driven to explore the shadier side of their small town, uncover vagrancy, violence, and hypocrisy, to find the person responsible for the murder of a man he owes his very life to.

If Fergus travels the path to help Cat and himself, he must face his darkest nightmares head on. Can loyalty overcome the corrupting power of guilt?