Wednesday, September 01, 2021

Winter Seeks Out the Lonely by Larry D. Sweazy

First Line: January 13, 1935. Sonny Burton stood on the front porch and watched an open-topped jalopy sputtering down the hardpan road, rolling slow enough to kick into the air any dust worthy of noting.
 
It's a bleak, cold January in the Texas Panhandle. The Depression lingers on, digging its dirty fingers deep into every nook and cranny of life. The local Texas Rangers office is closing, which means Sonny Burton's son Jesse will probably lose his job. A ragtag, tired circus camps outside Wellington, needing rest before continuing on its journey, but most townsfolk don't seem to want it there. 
 
Sonny Burton is retired from the Texas Rangers, but that doesn't stop anyone from coming to him for help. His friend, Aldo Hernandez, comes seeking help for his cousin who got into a fight and cost another man his chance to work in the Civilian Conservation Corps. Although Sonny doesn't want to get involved, he finally agrees to help and finds himself in a snarled mess of corruption, bigotry, and hate. 
 
Sonny would much rather focus on the letters he's been receiving from Edith Grantley. While he worries about Edith being willing to share her life with a one-armed man who's used to living alone with his three-legged dog, Edith has grown tired of waiting for a response to her letters. She's jumped into her car, left her home in Huntsville, and is driving all the way to Wellington to see him-- not necessarily the wisest thing to do in these hard times. For both of them, it's a time of dangerous confrontations.
 
~
 
I've been a fan of Larry D. Sweazy's Sonny Burton mysteries since the very first one, A Thousand Falling Crows. During a shootout with Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie Parker's aim cost Sonny his arm. There can't be any one-armed Texas Rangers, so she cost him his job, too... the most important thing in his life. His dedication to his job took a huge toll on his personal life, and even though his son Jesse joined the Texas Rangers in his father's footsteps, their relationship is strained. Sonny lives outside of town with his three-legged hound, Blue, feeling very much the outsider, and the cold, bleak winter is making him feel rootless and lonely. He's not the only one.

In the second book in the series (there are now three), The Lost Are the Last to Die, Sonny met boardinghouse owner Edith Grantley who's also feeling lost and alone. While Sonny thinks he's not fit to share Edith's life, Edith has her own thoughts on the matter and is brave enough to jump into her Pierce Arrow and make the journey from Huntsville all the way to the Texas Panhandle where Sonny lives. I could talk about these two characters all day because Sweazy brings them to life, but Sonny and Edith aren't the only reasons why you should read this book.
 
Sweazy also sets readers down right smack dab in the middle of the Dust Bowl and the Depression. You get a real feel for the landscape, how people lived, what they thought. If you enjoy historical mysteries set in the western United States, then don't miss Sonny Burton. 

The mystery concerning Aldo Hernandez's cousin is a good one, and it kept me trying to figure out what happened, but the part of the book that really grabbed me was Edith's journey across the state of Texas. Any female reading Winter Seeks Out the Lonely is going to put herself in Edith's shoes and find herself wishing that Edith's bright yellow Pierce Arrow would go faster. Faster. Faster. What makes this part of the book so memorable is that it isn't only adrenaline-churning action, it shows us just what kind of a person Edith is.

For Edith, "The road trip had revealed a world desperate to survive, to express its rage, and to take whatever it wanted without consequence." For readers, Winter Seeks Out the Lonely is a road trip deep into the Depression with two characters who show the strength and resiliency of the human spirit. I am so glad I found these books.

Winter Seeks Out the Lonely by Larry D. Sweazy
ISBN: 9781432868963
Five Star © 2021
Hardcover, 290 pages
 
Historical Mystery, #3 Sonny Burton mystery
Rating: A
Source: the author

9 comments:

  1. I need to catch up on this series, Cathy. I like his writing style, and the setting and time period are really appealing. He evokes the era well, too, I think.

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    1. He certainly does. I usually feel as though I have to beat the dust out of my clothes when I put down the book.

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  2. I may give this a try. Hate to miss any good book. Westerns aren't my favorite, but a woman driving across Texas captures my interest.
    And I can't wait for reviews of the current books being read now.. I'm curious about S.A. Cosby and My Sweet Life. The latter is on library hold.

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    1. Sweazy gives you a very good feel for life during the Dust Bowl and Depression, too.

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  3. Darn, another one to add to my list. Haven't read this author, but I do like Westerns!

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    1. He's also written a trilogy featuring Marjorie Trumaine, an indexer living on a farm in North Dakota. I really liked those as well and wish he'd written more.

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  4. I meant My Sweet Girl. Can't wait. Setting is new to me.

    I'm so rattled by events in Texas that I can't read fiction right now, although mysteries are the best distractions and destressors, along with chocolate which I have eaten a ton of tday.

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    1. I'm doing my best not to think about Texas. I'm going to get my work done here and then wade right into a book.

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  5. Books, especially mysteries, are the best (and healthiest) distraction. Just need the right ones.

    I am reading the Tahoe book and also I have some books in the library system in Overdrive. All I have to do is check in and voila! A book is ready with big print.

    Read many that way during the library closure.

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