Big Red Tequila

Big Red Tequila is the first novel in Rick Riordan's Tres Navarre series and Riordan's first published book. It is a fast-paced crime story about an unusually talented and flawed hero, Jackson "Tres" Navarre, a third-generation Texan, who has a PhD from Berkeley in medieval studies and English, works as an unlicensed private investigator, and is a tai chi master.
This novel won the Anthony Award for best original paperback and the Shamus Award for best First Private Investigator novel in 1997.