Monday, January 25, 2021

The Bitterroots by C.J. Box

 

First Line: The Crazy Mountains were on fire and Cassie Dewell sat alone in her car at night on McLeod Street across from the Grand Hotel in Big Timber, Montana, looking for a twenty-four-year-old reprobate known as Antlerhead.
 
Cassie Dewell may be a private investigator now, but she's still a cop at heart, so when a friend calls in a favor and asks Cassie to help exonerate a man accused of raping a young girl from an influential family, she really wants no part of it. That old friend finally gets her on board by telling her that Cassie would really be going over all the evidence to prove that the prosecution's case was airtight.
 
But when she gets to the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana, she finds that the Kleinsassers have ruled the area for decades, and they want Blake Kleinsasser, the black sheep of the family, put away in prison for good. As Cassie begins going over each piece of the evidence against Blake, she unleashes the deadly power of a twisted family. When it comes to what the Kleinsassers of the Iron Cross Ranch want, Cassie is going to find out that her life means absolutely nothing.
 
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Taking place during Montana's "Summer of Fire," C.J. Box's The Bitterroots is a story that has the sudden, ferocious power of a sledgehammer. When Cassie Dewell tells someone where she's going, she's told "You have no idea what kind of... snake pit you're going to fall into," and that's the honest truth. The smoke of countless forest fires may obscure the Kleinsassers' sinister grip on the county in which they reside, but the acrid stench of the smoke gives them away. Even the name of their property-- the Iron Cross Ranch-- has an ominous ring to it.

Cassie Dewell faces one challenge of escalating intensity after another, but, folks, she's put down her Denise Mina novel, and she's determined to get to the bottom of things simply because the other side is overplaying their hand. These challenges are humiliating, shocking, infuriating... and I would have done exactly what she did. (Some folks don't react well to intimidation.) The only qualm I had was that, for the single mother of a teenage boy, Cassie went much farther out on a limb than she should have. 

The Kleinsassers are a family of vipers, and I wanted to see Cassie bring them down. One person remarks, "We seem to be witnessing the Olympics of family dysfunction right here in Montana." Some of the Kleinsasser revelations didn't surprise me one bit, and I cheered Cassie on to the very last page.

As always, the setting has an important role in Box's novels. Readers will experience the Summer of Fire in the steep mountains and deep valleys of northwestern Montana close to the Idaho border, but they will also learn a bit of history. This is the land of the Big Hole Battlefield, where Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce fought for their freedom, and Box's story does justice to the landscape and history of the area.

Now begins the wait for Cassie Dewell's next investigation.

The Bitterroots by C.J. Box
eISBN: 9781466852006
Minotaur Books © 2019
eBook, 352 pages
 
Private Investigator, #5 Cassie Dewell mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

10 comments:

  1. I've never read C.J. Box but I get the impression that he's a lot like Craig Johnson. Am I right in thinking that, or is it only because they use a Western setting that makes me think that? I'm a Craig Johnson fan, so it would be nice to find that C.J. Box's books are at least a little similar.

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    1. You know me-- I'm a Craig Johnson fan, too. I would say that Box and Johnson are very similar in the strength of their settings, their characters, and their storytelling. Box doesn't have the sense of humor that Johnson does, however.

      I read the first six or so of Box's Joe Pickett series, and I enjoyed them. I don't know why I haven't continued reading them; it must be due to my Magpie Syndrome. I do know that I like Cassie Dewell, and I do intend to keep up with this series.

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  2. I'm not surprised you liked this so well, Cathy. Box is a very skilled writer who can really build tension and establish a sense of place and local culture. I know exactly what you mean about Cassie taking too many risks; I get very tired of that in books. But I can see why you liked her as a character; I'll be interested to see where Box goes with her story.

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    1. I'll be interested in that, too.

      I may voice some annoyance at a character who takes risks, but I also really like one that stands up to wrongdoing, and that's Cassie.

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  3. Our mystery book group had a 'C.J. Box' month this month. I read BLUE HEAVEN, a standalone that won the Edgar some years ago. Most read Joe Pickett books, but a couple read in this series. Everyone was happy with their reads. I will say that several of us tried the new TV adaptation and didn't like it. One member who has read every single book that Box has ever written was very disappointed. Ah well.

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    1. I've heard mixed reviews of the TV adaptation, too. I can't even remember its name. Big Sky? I may look it up and give it a test run, "may" being the operative word.

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  4. I've still not read a C.J. Box! Like Sam, I'm a Craig Johnson fan and think these books my suit me. :)

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  5. I have not read any C.J. Box either, but this one sounds interesting. I can see the appeal to Cassie of "going over the evidence to make sure it is airtight". But of course it is never as simple as that...

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