The Harvey Girl by Dana Stabenow

First Lines from Prologue: January 28, 1868. It was less than three years since Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.

After successfully concluding her latest assignment, young Pinkerton agent Clare Wright finds herself working undercover in New Mexico as a hostess in Fred Harvey's Harvey House restaurant. Robberies are plaguing this newest addition to Harvey's empire, and he's depending on Clare to find the answers.

However, this assignment is going to be far from easy. Not only is the restaurant work exhausting, Clare risks exposure each and every day. And then there are those train robberies. No wonder Clare can only trust two things: herself and her derringer.

~

Several years ago, my reading took me into the world of Fred Harvey, his Harvey House hotels, the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe Railroad, and the tourism that grew from them. The history of the Harvey Girls themselves is fascinating, and I always thought this would be a gold mine for a mystery series. So did talented writer Dana Stabenow, and after reading The Harvey Girl, I can't wait for the further adventures of Clare Wright.

Clare Wright is a fascinating character. Her backstory unfolds throughout the book as we see her in all sorts of different situations, thinking on her feet, and relying on her unusual skill set. One of the things I really appreciated in this book was the fact that Clare couldn't sneak away from her duties as a Harvey Girl, as so often happens in other mysteries. The work was detailed, the long hours exhausting, and it was difficult for Clare to be both waitress and detective.

Stabenow brings a fascinating chapter in the history of the Old West to life in this new mystery series, and I can't wait for more.

The Harvey Girl by Dana Stabenow

eISBN: 9781035916610

Head of Zeus © 2026

eBook, 272 pages

Historical Mystery, #1 Clare Wright

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley 

Badlands by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

 

First Line: August 2020; Precise date uncertain. The woman paused and raised her head, looking over the wavering landscape toward the horizon.

It is a puzzling death in the New Mexico badlands. The victim went out into the desert, shedding clothes as she walked, and died a horrible death of heatstroke and thirst. When her skeleton is found, her bony hands are clutching two incredibly rare lightning stones, stones that the ancient Chaco people used to summon the gods. 

When FBI Agent Corrie Swanson is assigned to the case, she can't quite believe that someone would choose to commit suicide in that manner. With the presence of the rare artifacts, she calls in archaeologist Nora Kelly to help her investigate. 

Then a second body is found-- in exactly the same circumstances. Corrie and Nora pursue their investigation into remote canyons, finding haunted ruins and learning about long-lost rituals. They have awakened a dark power that will put their lives in danger.

~

I have been a fan of Preston and Child's Nora Kelly series from the very first book (Old Bones). I have learned so much about the landscape and history of New Mexico in reading the series, and Badlands is no exception. This fast-paced tale had me exploring remote areas along with Nora and Corrie and learning more about the Pueblo and Navajo cultures. (Never skip the Author's Notes at the end of the books.)

The progression of the lives of the characters has completely won me over. Corrie continues to grow as an FBI agent, and Sheriff Homer Watts, with his immaculate cowboy hat and pearl-handled six-shooters, tries his best to always ride in to save the day whenever his damsel, Corrie, is in danger.

I do have to admit that I did get annoyed with Nora, as she knowingly put herself in danger (what I call a TSTL Moment-- Too Stupid To Live), and her feckless brother, Skip, never ceases to amaze me. Is his luck ever going to run out? Especially when he becomes friends with the local law unto himself rich guy. 

As much as I enjoyed the characters, the story, and all the things I learned, I couldn't totally buy into what caused the women's deaths. It was a tad too far-fetched and had my suspension bridge of disbelief swaying wildly in the breeze. Is that going to keep me from reading the next book in the series? Of course not! I'm ready to read it right now.

Badlands by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

eISBN: 9781538765852

Grand Central Publishing © 2025

eBook, 362 pages

Thriller, #5 Nora Kelly & Corrie Swanson

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

The Vanishing Kind by Alice Henderson

 

First Line: After the recent rash of campus burglaries, the last thing Dane Fisher wanted was to be alone in this building late at night.

Wildlife biologist Alex Carter is thrilled when she's tasked with locating jaguars on a desert preserve in New Mexico. Jaguars once roamed throughout the Southwest, but now there are only a handful left. Alex hopes some of the elusive cats have found their way to this protected piece of land.

Nearby the preserve, a team of archaeologists is excavating the gravesite of a sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador. Alex meets the team and also comes in contact with a violent group of anti-immigrant vigilantes who demand that the archaeologists leave. 

When the vigilantes learn of Alex's job, they want to stop her as well. Since jaguars are federally endangered, concessions might be made so that wildlife can cross the border wall-- and these people want nothing to cross that wall.

Alex is working right in the middle of a powder keg, and jaguars aren't the only ones whose lives are in danger.

~

I have become a big fan of Alice Henderson's Alex Carter thrillers. I love their settings, all the information I learn about wildlife, and the strong, intelligent character of Alex herself. Unfortunately, I found The Vanishing Kind to be a bit disappointing. The book was trying to be too many things to too many people. Wildlife lovers. Remote settings lovers. Archaeology lovers. Spanish treasure lovers. Wilderness survival lovers. Then there are the white supremacists, and the resident billionaire who thinks his word is law. 

I'm also a bit tired of one character repeatedly showing up just in the nick of time to save Alex's bacon. If Alex is going to get in that type of mess, I'd love to see her get herself out of it instead of relying on a deus ex machina. 

I still love Alex's character, and I liked learning more about the jaguars, especially since I keep my eyes peeled for news of El Jefe, a jaguar roaming southeastern Arizona. Henderson includes how readers can learn more about these marvelous big cats at the end of the book. There is even timely information about the work (or lack thereof) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I'm just hoping that Alex's next adventure is a bit more... streamlined. 

The Vanishing Kind by Alice Henderson

eISBN: 9780063223073

William Morrow © 2025

eBook, 320 pages

Thriller, #4 Alex Carter

Rating: B-

Source: Net Galley

January Reading Round-Up

 

Today (Monday) is one of those days when it would seem everyone is beating a path to our door. While I'm waiting on various people to show up, what better time to share some of the books I've read?  Once again, these are shorter reviews. I've included links to Amazon US in the titles in case you'd like to learn more. 

 

Let's get started!

 

 

Against the Grain by Peter Lovesey

Review copy courtesy of Net Galley.

384 pages

Rating: A

 

My Thoughts: This finale of Lovesey's long-running series was a satisfying conclusion. Faced with a holiday in the country that he doesn't want, Peter Diamond tries everything in the book (including his elderly cat) to avoid going. Resistance is futile. Once there, he finds himself experiencing all sorts of country life as well as using a bit of what he calls the "Columbo Method of Detection" to help out a former colleague.

 

I was in just the right mood for this humorous excursion in the country to solve a nicely twisted mystery.

 
 

Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson

208 pages

Rating: A+

 

My Thoughts: A prequel to the Walt Longmire series, this was one of my Best Reads of 2024. Walt and his best friend, Henry Standing Bear, have returned from military service in Vietnam. Working for an oil company in the bitter cold of an Alaskan winter, they find themselves facing a ferocious polar bear, and the creature seems hell-bent on their destruction.

 

Tooth and Claw is a rip-roaring pageturner. Although Johnson has often thought of "thrillers as mysteries with lobotomies," he sure knows how to write one (minus the surgical procedure)! There's a feeling of dislocation for both Walt and Henry now that they're back in the U.S.  Johnson has his usual solid cast of characters as well as a blizzard where they and other members of the oil company crew have to take shelter on a ghost ship. If that's not enough to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, there's that polar bear. The creature would make anyone's blood run cold. It's terrifying, it's supernatural... and while it scared the pudding out of me, I still felt sorry for it. Now that's a combination of emotions that's almost impossible to pull off, but Johnson does it with aplomb.

A Flower in the Desert by Walter Satterthwait

336 pages

Rating: B+

My Thoughts: I first came to Walter Satterthwait's writing through Miss Lizzie, his historical mystery featuring Lizzie Borden. Soon thereafter, I found his Joshua Croft private investigator series set in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A Flower in the Desert is the third book.

The mystery about a movie star wanting to hire Croft to find his missing wife and daughter is solid. Joshua Croft reminds me of Todd Borg's Owen McKenna in that he, too, is willing to be in a relationship on the woman's terms, even if those terms are contrary to his own desires. Croft has an irreverent sense of humor that often gets him into difficulty (asking an extremely difficult motel clerk, "Were you ever in the Wehrmacht?")

The mysteries are good, the characters are good, and Satterthwait's poetic descriptions of Santa Fe and the surrounding area bring the landscape to life. The next book in the series is waiting for me patiently.

Red, Green or Murder by Steven F. Havill

283 pages

Rating: B+

 

My Thoughts: Steven Havill's long-running Posadas County series never disappoints. He brings a fictional county in southwestern New Mexico to life with a phenomenal cast headed by former Sheriff Bill Gastner. 

 

Gastner is now a livestock inspector. On the Torrance Ranch, he's counting a small herd of cattle and thinking ahead to lunch in town with an old friend. But a breeze kicks up, a horse spooks, and he's taking a badly injured cowboy in the back of his SUV to meet an ambulance. He's barely back in town when Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman asks for his help in investigating an unattended death. Gastner's friend had gone ahead and eaten lunch... and died of an apparent heart attack. But something's not right.

 

To make matters even worse, the herd of cattle Gastner counted is wandering down the highway with no sign of the cowpuncher or his boss's $40,000 truck and livestock trailer. 

The mysteries concerning the theft of the vehicles and the death of Gastner's friend are fast-paced and absorbing. That's nothing new for this series. And neither is the fact that Havill is a master at creating and nurturing a cast of characters that grows and changes. Insomniac Gastner is older, has health problems, and his role in the series has changed, but he's gathered around him people like Estelle Reyes-Guzman who have become his extended family. Their lives have been woven seamlessly into this series that deserves to be much better known than it is.

~

Have I caught up with my reviews? Nope. That just means that you'll be hearing from me again, doesn't it? Next week, I hope to tell you a bit about some of the books I'm looking forward to-- there's a bunch! I'd also like to put together a link round-up. We shall see. If everything goes to plan, Denis and I will be going to the Phoenix Zoo, so there will be photos from that to share as well. I just may have to blog more frequently, eh?

Red Gold by Robert D. Kidera

 

First Line: I knelt by my wife's grave, as I had each day for more than a year.

 

Professor Gabriel McKenna is still grieving the death of his wife, so when he learns that his great-aunt has left him an inheritance, he looks forward to a change of scenery and heads to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

 

Once in his great aunt's house, Gabe finds himself up to his eyebrows in a mystery involving the legendary Lost Adams gold. His life is in danger. Old friends and new rally to his side.

 

People are willing to kill for this treasure, and Gabe's life depends on his ability to find it first... if it even exists.

 

 

~

 

The best part of this first Gabe McKenna mystery is the pursuit of the Lost Adams gold. The author's description of being out on the trail in a remote area brought back memories of many pleasurable hours my husband and I spent doing the same thing in our Jeep. I also liked following along as McKenna did his research and began putting all the clues together. (I can't resist old maps and manuscripts.)

But I also had problems with Red Gold. I have very few hot buttons in my reading, but alcoholism is one of them. When McKenna's wife died, he fell face-first into a bottle, and I tired of his constant reaching for one. An example? "I felt overwhelmed. So I walked into a bar at the end of the block." He knows people are trying to kill him, but he makes sure he has a flask of booze at hand when he's heading out to a dangerous situation. I know we're supposed to feel compassion for this man, but I just rolled my eyes. However, when things really began heating up, he started forgetting to reach for the bottle, so there was hope.

It also felt as though the author was trying to make his main character all things to all people. He's an alcoholic. He's a college professor and published author. He won the 1977 Golden Gloves in boxing. He was an Army Ranger in Grenada. He has a Ph.D in Pre-Columbian history. And he's the lucky recipient of a sizable inheritance. I only wish that Golden Gloves of his had been more useful because Gabe spent entirely too much time getting the stuffing knocked out of him (which is something of a hot button, too.)

Although I did enjoy the search for treasure, Gabe McKenna just didn't do a thing for me. Your mileage may vary, and I hope that it does.

Red Gold by Robert D. Kidera

ASIN: B092TTXVFW

Suspense Publishing © 2015

eBook, 232 pages

 

Amateur Sleuth, #1 Gabe McKenna

Rating: B-

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Riding with Cochise by Steve Price

 

 

 

First Line: By 1863, however, both the water and the canyon were controlled by the Apaches, who were being led by an imposing and charismatic leader named Cochise.

 

Using oral histories told by relatives of the legendary Apache warriors Cochise, Geronimo, Victorio, and Mangas Coloradas as well as the personal diaries of others who were involved, author Steve Price paints a vivid and memorable portrait of a people.

 

"The Apache sense of place was essentially their culture." They worshiped one god-- Ussen-- who made them caretakers of the Earth, and if they did not care for it properly, it would be taken from them. They knew their homeland so intimately it was the major reason why they were able to hold off thousands of soldiers in America's longest war. For example, during one time period, Geronimo, along with thirty-four men, women, and children outran and outfought 5,000 American and 3,000 Mexican soldiers.

 

Even though so much Apache history has been wiped clean from their ancestral lands, Price includes many historic places (and the directions to them) that readers can visit. I was pleased to see that I'd been to most of the Arizona locations such as  Cochise Stronghold, the Chiricahua National Monument, Fort Bowie, the Butterfield Overland Trail, and Skeleton Canyon.

But while my knowledge of the area greatly enhanced my enjoyment of Riding with Cochise, it was the history of the Apaches themselves that was vital. I learned so much about Cochise, Mangas Coloradas, Victorio, and Geronimo-- leaders known by their Spanish names because their actual names were too difficult for the Mexicans and Americans to pronounce. 

 

The Apache leaders were honorable men. They wanted peace and did their best to achieve it. They upheld all the terms of any treaties they agreed to. However, it was impossible to trust those with whom they signed those agreements. An American Army officer ordered one Apache leader to be murdered, and the Mexicans loved to bring the Apache in under a flag of truce to then massacre them and collect the bounties on their scalps. No wonder the Apache fought so hard.

Riding with Cochise is a fast-paced, informative history of the American Southwest. The next time I'm traveling in southeastern Arizona, I'll have an even greater appreciation of the Apache, their history, and their homeland.

Riding with Cochise: The Apache Story of America's Longest War 

by Steve Price

eISBN: 9781510774582

Skyhorse Publishing © 2023

eBook, 240 pages

 

Non-Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Purchased from Amazon.

Dead Mountain by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

 

First Line: Brandon Purdue and his frat buddy Mike Kottke sat on a rock underneath a big fir tree, near where their Jeep had skidded off a Forest Service road into a ditch and run over a sapling.

 

Once again, FBI Agent Corrie Swanson enlists the aid of archaeologist Nora Kelly when two drunken frat boys stumble on ancient remains when they find shelter in a cave. However, Kelly not only uncovers Native American remains, she finds two much more recent ones.

The recent ones turn out to be from an ill-fated 2008 winter backpacking trip into the New Mexico mountains. At their final campsite, searchers find a bizarre scene that suggests something appearing in the door of the hikers' tent that was so terrifying they cut their way out of the tent and ran barefoot into a blizzard and certain death.

Only one hiker of the so-called Dead Mountain 9 remains to be found, and with the help of Nora Kelly, Corrie Swanson is determined to not only find him but also find out the truth of what happened to them all.

~

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Nora Kelly series has turned into a must-read for me whenever I want some high-octane fun-- although I do wonder if Nora will ever turn Corrie down when she asks for help because, every time she says yes, she finds herself in a big mess.

 

I fell in love with New Mexico on a visit a few years ago, and I always look forward to what bits of that state's history these two men will use to fuel their story. Although Nora does help Corrie with the Dead Mountain 9 investigation, she finds herself pulled away by her impulsive brother Skip who runs afoul of a corrupt sheriff when the two help people from the Isleta Pueblo repatriate ancient remains found in the cave. Learning more about NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) laws was very interesting, and I enjoyed how Skip was extricated from his dire situation. 

 

The major storyline involving the Dead Mountain 9 uses Kirtland Air Force Base as a possible focus for Corrie's investigation. Watching Corrie and her new mentor, Agent Sharp, unravel all the knots surrounding the coverups of what happened during that blizzard fifteen years ago was a blast. I love how Preston and Child's minds work!

 

No matter how good the story, it wouldn't really work if the characters weren't up to the same high standards, and they are. Archaeologist Nora Kelly is the more seasoned of the two and keeps Corrie's worst impulsiveness in check. She also has valuable knowledge to bring to the table. Neither woman is someone you want to mess with when you're in the wrong. Nora's brother Skip is the class clown, the comic relief. Will he ever learn when to keep his mouth shut? You can count on me to keep reading to find out. And of course, there's Sheriff Homer Watts, the handsome six-gun-toting lawman who takes special care of his cowboy hat. He can be counted on to ride in and help save the day. Seeing these recurring characters develop is one of the best parts of reading the series.

 

This cast of characters is one that is determined to confront injustice, and watching how Agents Swanson and Sharp and all the rest bring justice to the Dead Mountain 9 is the icing on the cake of an extremely enjoyable read. I can't wait for the next book in the series! 

Dead Mountain by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

eISBN: 9781538736838

Grand Central Publishing © 2023

eBook, 393 pages

 

Thriller, #4 Nora Kelly & Corrie Swanson

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Redemption by Deborah J. Ledford

 

First Lines: Ten Days Ago. She needed to start her plan of action, and where better to find a drug dealer or two than at the local high school.

 

When four women go missing from the Taos Pueblo reservation, it's personal for Deputy Eva Duran. One of the missing women is her best friend, Paloma, a heroin addict who left behind an eighteen-year-old son, Kai.

 

There seems to be a lack of interest in the case from local law enforcement, so Eva teams up with tribal police officer and longtime friend Cruz Romero to help her find the women-- an investigation that becomes even more important when the missing women begin turning up dead.

 

~

 

Having read previous books by the author, I looked forward to Redemption with anticipation, and I was not disappointed. I have visited the Taos, New Mexico area, and I appreciated learning more about Taos Pueblo, the reservation, and the traditions and beliefs of the people who live there. 

Redemption touches upon the plight of missing Indigenous women and the problem of drugs on the reservation and shows how the tribal, city, and county police forces work together to solve crimes. The four women Eva is searching for are all highly talented in arts that are important to the Pueblo people: drum making, basket making, jewelry making, and hoop dancing. When their bodies began to be found, I felt as though a part of these artistic traditions died with them. 

The cast is a strong one, with Eva at its heart. Her tribal name is Lightning Dance, but with her quiet demeanor and accurate marksmanship, she earned the nickname "Silent But Deadly" at the police academy. She often wants to go rogue to get the job done, but her intelligence keeps her in check. She knows being a loose cannon will not get the bad guys locked up in prison, and that such behavior will probably get her kicked off the police force-- and she loves her job. 

Readers see the points of view of several characters. For example, we hear Paloma's thoughts as she hopes Eva will be able to find her. We hear from Paloma's son, Kai, a mercurial eighteen-year-old whose emotions sometimes get the best of him, and we hear from Alice, the woman who's holding the women captive. Although Alice's heart is in the right place, she still reminded me a tiny bit of Annie Wilkes in Stephen King's Misery. But my favorite character has to be Nathan "Little Bear" Trujillo, a little boy who's living a nightmare and wants it to end. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing him again.

Redemption is a fast-paced tale with a main character I want to hear more from. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Redemption by Deborah J. Ledford

eISBN: 9781662510465

Thomas & Mercer © 2023

eBook, 363 pages

Police Procedural/Native American mystery, #1 Eva Duran mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

First Line: Souls don't scatter like the rest of the body.

 

Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer for the Albuquerque Police Department. She has an uncanny knack for taking photos with such incredible detail that they've helped solve cases. 

 

What very few people don't know is that Rita sees the ghosts of crime victims, and these spirits point her in the direction of clues that other investigators overlook. Ghosts have ruled Rita's life from an early age. They are what drove her from a life on the Navajo Reservation, and they are responsible for her nightmares and lack of sleep.

 

When Rita is sent to the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious ghost of the victim latches on to Rita, insisting that Rita prove she was murdered so the dead woman can have revenge on her killers. Little does Rita know, but this vengeful spirit is going to drag her right into the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque's most dangerous cartels.

 

~

 

When I read the synopsis of Shutter, I'm positive that I didn't read the whole thing. I remember seeing "forensic photographer", "Navajo Reservation", and "New Mexico", and I jumped at the chance to read it. Using my incredibly focused hindsight, I'm not entirely certain I would have read this book if I'd paid closer attention to the complete synopsis.

 

Shutter is part crime thriller, part supernatural horror, and part coming-of-age story. Which part would have kept me from reading this book? The supernatural horror part. Normally, I don't care to spend time with that particular genre. What kept me reading? The other two parts, that's what. The crime thriller was taut as a bowstring and often shocking. If gruesome depictions of crime scenes bother you, I would suggest you give this book a pass; however, I did not find the descriptions gratuitous-- they served to open wide the window into Rita's nightmarish world. The mystery wasn't easy to solve either.

 

The absolute best part of Shutter-- and the part that kept me glued to Rita's side-- was the coming of age aspect. Readers watch Rita as she grows up on the Navajo Reservation with her grandmother, who is deeply worried about Rita's "gift". The Navajo perspective of death and dealing with the dead is very different from most cultures, and I sincerely appreciated the opportunity to learn more about this.

 

Fortunately, the mystery and the coming of age aspects of Shutter helped keep me from mentally dropkicking Erma the supposed highway overpass suicide into the next world where she belonged-- talk about an annoying character! But... as much as I did enjoy the mystery and learning more about the Navajo culture, I'm not sure I would want to read another book featuring Rita. That indecision has everything to do with my own personal tastes in reading and very little to do with Shutter itself.

 

 

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

eISBN: 9781641293341

Soho Press © 2022

eBook, 312 pages

 

Thriller/Native American mystery

Rating: C+

Source: Net Galley

Bag Limit by Steven F. Havill

 

First Line: I should have been home sunken comfortably in my leather recliner with a fresh pot of coffee gradually turning to battery acid in the kitchen and my recently purchased copy of Dayne Mercer's  Storm Over Chicamauga open on my lap.

 

It's a peaceful night, and Sheriff Bill Gastner has his police car parked up in the San Cristobal Mountains, looking out over the valley at what soon would no longer be his responsibility as sheriff. He's looking forward to the election and handing over his sheriff's badge to his successor, but his quiet contemplation is shattered when his car is T-boned by a carload of drunken teenagers.

Without a thought to his friends, the driver of the car runs and disappears into the woods. But it doesn't matter; Gastner knows both the young driver and his family. For some reason, the boy seems much too upset about being arrested, and on the way to the jail, he makes a desperate attempt to escape which leads to his being hit and killed by an oncoming truck.

Gastner has his work cut out for him in learning what's behind this tragic overreaction. Not only is it just a couple of days away from the election and his retirement, but he's also got houseguests: his former deputy, her surgeon husband, and their two hyperactive little boys.

~

As much as I enjoy this series, you'd think I'd plow right through it, but I'm not. Instead, I'm ambling through it, taking my own sweet time, knowing that Havill's Posadas County series is one I can rely on to deliver the goods each and every time.

The mystery behind the teenager's crazy behavior that leads to his death is a strong one with some excellent misdirection, and I always enjoy visiting fictional Posadas County down in southern New Mexico. Havill has a way of describing the landscape that puts me right there.

Havill's series has one of the absolute best ensemble casts to be found in fiction. In uncertain health and a chronic insomniac, seventy-year-old Bill Gastner leads the way with his investigative skills, diplomacy, and plain old common sense. In Bag Limit, readers get to see him not only as the sheriff but as a father, grandfather, boss, friend, and godfather. One of the things that makes him such a good sheriff is that he knows every nook and cranny of Posadas County and all of the people who live there--which does remind me of another police officer named Bruno who lives in the Southwest, too. Well, the southwest of France.

Each cast member in this series has his or her part to play, and as time passes, their roles change, children grow, some move away... life happens. This verisimilitude makes Havill's series a joy, as does his catchy turns of phrase such as "... boss may have had the personality of a sunstruck rattlesnake..."

This series is one to be savored by reading the books in order. The first book is Heartshot. Get a copy and read it. You can thank me later.

Bag Limit by Steven F. Havill

eISBN: 9781615950737

Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press © 2011

eBook, 250 pages

 

Police Procedural, #9 Posadas County mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Diablo Mesa By Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

 

First Line: Dr. Marcelle Weingrau, president of the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute, slowly unfolded her hands on the glossy surface of desk in front of her.

 

When you've got billions of dollars of disposable cash, you're used to having your whims obeyed. This is what happens when billionaire Lucas Tappan approaches the president of the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute. Suddenly, archaeologist Nora Kelly finds herself being told to head to Roswell to head a dig where a UFO supposedly crash-landed in 1947-- whether she wants to or not.

 

Once there, Kelly finds the bodies of two murder victims whose bodies were deliberately mutilated to evade identification. The proper authorities have to be called in, and Special Agent Corrie Swanson is put in charge of the case. 

 

As both women pursue their investigations, bizarre and inexplicable things come to light for both of them, and the closer they come to unearthing the truth, the closer they come to a showdown with a group that will stop at nothing to protect its secrets.

 

~

 

I absolutely love this series. I get to participate in archaeological digs. I get to learn fascinating bits of history. I get to tag along with two intelligent, brave women, and-- last but not least-- I get to vicariously savor thrilling chases, narrow escapes, and plenty of quick thinking and derring-do. There are times that this is exactly what the doctor orders, and I can rely on Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child to serve up the correct dosage prescribed.

 

I have to admit that, although I loved Diablo Mesa, I'm not as passionate about it as I was about The Scorpion's Tail, and I think that's due entirely to the central Quest. My taste buds fire up more when served a tasty Native American and Spanish treasure than it does with a course of UFOs, but that's just me. (Although a certain one-word message did send a chill down my spine.)

 

Preston and Child can be relied upon to build fantastic plots as they have done here, but it's the cast of characters that brings everything to life. Nora Kelly and her brother Skip. The continuing maturation of Special Agent Corrie Swanson. Sheriff Watts of Socorro County with his pearl-handled six-shooters and Resistol hat. This ensemble cast sparkles, and can even have me laughing in the middle of a dire chase scene.

 

Once again, I've finished a Nora Kelly book with a smile on my face and resigned to the interminable wait for the next adventure. Bring it on!  

Diablo Mesa by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

eISBN: 9781538736739

Grand Central Publishing © 2022

eBook, 374 pages

 

Thriller, #3 Nora Kelly mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

At Ease With the Dead by Walter Satterthwait

 

First Line: Normally a Santa Fe summer is one of the blessings of the Weather Gods.

 

While out fishing, private investigator Joshua Croft saves elderly Navajo Daniel Begay from a trio of abusive rednecks. Never expecting to see him again, he's very surprised when Begay shows up in his office and wants to hire him. The case is unusual, and it isn't going to be easy. Begay wants Croft to recover the bones of Ganado, a Navajo warrior... and those bones have been missing since 1925.

Ganado's skeleton was stolen by an oil prospector on sacred Navajo land. Less than a month later, the prospector was killed, and the bones haven't been seen since. 

Making it perfectly clear that he probably won't be successful, Croft takes on a case which he believes to be hopeless but relatively harmless. He couldn't be more wrong. The deeper he digs, the more danger he puts himself and others in. From El Paso to the Navajo Nation, Croft's investigation puts him solidly in the sights of someone who thinks nothing of killing to keep long-buried secrets.

~

A few years back, I stumbled across a mystery, Miss Lizzie, in which Satterthwait made Lizzie Borden one half of a detective duo. I loved the story, and I loved Satterthwait's poetic writing style. I went looking for more written by him and came across his first Joshua Croft mystery, Wall of Glass. Since the series is set in Santa Fe and I'd fallen in love with the place after a visit, I read it and knew I'd be back for more. I really enjoy Satterthwait's descriptions of the New Mexican landscape, how he develops his characters, and his stories.

Croft works for (and loves) wheelchair-bound Rita Mondragon, an intelligent, beautiful, and stubborn woman who states, "I'll leave this house when I can walk out of it." Croft feels she's making a mistake, but he's willing to accept Rita on her own terms. 

The mystery in At Ease With the Dead (the title taken from a quote by Geronimo) is filled with danger, archaeology, oil prospecting, and humor. It's a "buddy movie" in which Croft often finds himself paired with the elderly Navajo, Daniel Begay. The old man has so many tricks up his sleeve that one day Croft looks at him and asks, "Are you really Batman?" This pairing provides much-needed levity in what could have been a very dark story.

Croft has a smart-alecky wit that I really appreciate. Satterthwait has developed a strong cast of characters, and he certainly knows how to construct a mystery that keeps readers guessing as well as bringing his setting to life. He also has the knack of including sentences that can make you stop and think. "Guilt is sometimes a secret sort of self-esteem" or "If you see the world as an organism, a single entity, which of course it is, then you can't help but see the human race as a kind of virus on its surface, actively engaged in  killing off the host."

Story, setting, language, characters, Satterthwait's Joshua Croft is an often thought-provoking mystery series that I will certainly be returning to.

At Ease With the Dead by Walter Satterthwait

eISBN: 9781453251287

Open Road Integrated Media © 2012

Originally published 1991.

eBook, 248 pages

 

Private Investigator, #2 Joshua Croft mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

The Scorpion's Tail by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

First Line: Since graduating from the Academy eight months before, Special Agent Corrie Swanson had learned to expect almost anything.

 

Rookie FBI Agent Corrie Swanson is given what she believes to be a throwaway case. A mummified corpse has been found in the basement of a building in a remote New Mexico ghost town. Once on the scene, she can see that a professional should be in charge of uncovering the body, so she uses the old "Hey, I saved your life" schtick on archaeologist, Nora Kelly. Fortunately, the Santa Fe Archaeological Society looks favorably on the positive PR of working with the FBI, so Nora obtains the all-clear and travels to the ghost town.

 

As she slowly uncovers the body, two things jump out at Nora. One, it's obvious from the position and appearance of the body that the person died in terrible agony, and two, hidden on the corpse is a sixteenth-century Spanish gold cross of immense value.

 

What Nora and Corrie will soon learn is that identifying the body and the cause of death will open the door to a world of ancient treasure, modern obsession, and one of the most defining moments of American history.

 

~

 

If you're in the mood for a book that's flat-out fun to read, by all means, get your hands on a copy of The Scorpion's Tail. Preston and Child's story of treasure and obsession had my eyes glued to the page, and when life intruded and I had to put the book down, my mind kept wandering back to it, wondering what was going to happen next.

 

These two authors pushed so many of my WOW buttons that I don't think I can list them all. I learned several interesting tidbits of New Mexico history such as the Pueblo Revolt. I was taken to the White Sands Missile Range. The trip to a remote ghost town reminded me of so many similar trips my husband and I made here in Arizona. Ones where the trails were so bad I thought my kidneys and spine would never be the same-- but so much fun! Then there was the fabulous lost Spanish treasure, the white-knuckle night escape from the bad guys, a little Army-Navy joke, and of course, the archaeology.

 

There's so much "wonderfulness" in The Scorpion's Tail that I think the brief appearance made by Preston and Child's Agent Pendergast was completely unnecessary. This book's adventure, its marvelous setting, its mystery are all taken to the next level by the authors' characters. Corrie Swanson's backstory is slowly being revealed, and it's an interesting one. She's going to make an excellent agent, but she can be impulsive and does need Agent Morwood's mentoring. Nora Kelly is my kind of archaeologist who's learning about the politics of promotion at the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute, and her brother Skip is the perfect person to bring along on a dig. There's the smart, handsome sheriff of Socorro who wears two six-shooters strapped to his hips, but don't let the theatricality fool you. When you've got a cast like this, it makes the mystery and the adventure shine even brighter.

 

If you can't tell that I loved this book, I have to say that I'm worried about you. I'll also worry about you if you like this sort of book and decide not to read it. The Scorpion's Tail is a fantastic, fun read. What are you waiting for?

The Scorpion's Tail by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

eISBN: 9781538747292

Grand Central Publishing © 2021

eBook, 402 pages

 

Thriller, #2 Nora Kelly mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Shattered Dreams by Frank Hayes

First Line: The early morning sun was just high enough to make him squint.

 

Although the burnt out shell of a trailer and the charred body inside show all the signs of a meth lab gone wrong, Sheriff Virgil Dalton sees enough evidence there to tell him that there was foul play. Then another fatality that's supposedly an accidental death tells Dalton that there's a sinister pattern beginning to emerge. 

 

Could that pattern have anything to do with a local company whose rapid growth is changing the face of the land he loves? Maybe. Maybe not. But it does show that there's a killer on the loose who will stop at nothing to cover his tracks. Sheriff Virgil Dalton has a lot of work to do and only a very little time in which to get it done.

 

~

 

In my opinion, Sheriff Virgil Dalton ranks right up there with others in my Sheriffs Pantheon. What others? Try Walt Longmire and Joanna Brady for starters. I just wish there were more than three books in this series because the message these books convey is much greater than the sum of their parts.

 

There's a slow, steady unfolding of the mystery in Shattered Dreams, but the mystery is just the tip of the iceberg. We experience the age-old problem of fighting a city council that wants the sheriff's department to perform miracles on a broken shoestring budget-- a city council that took ten years to decide to spend money to install a stop light at a dangerous intersection. Times are changing, and the problems of the world are coming to this small town where that old yellow dog used to be able to sleep out in the middle of Main Street. No matter how much the city council wants to live in the past, they must be dragged into the here and now.

What makes Shattered Dreams and the other two books in the series (Death at the Black Bull and Death on the High Lonesome) so good is what I call the People Angle. The characters draw you in and keep you wanting more. Rosie, the dispatcher who keeps the office shipshape and everyone in line, puts me in mind of Walt Longmire's Ruby. Something happens to another character, and readers will be left reeling in shock but ultimately comforted by how everyone draws together.

Sheriff Virgil Dalton is the type of lawman readers can respect and grow to love. He's quiet and observant. He sees value in the sorts of people that most folks write off, people whom others believe are only fit to gossip about. He's always putting everyone else ahead of himself, sometimes to his own detriment. And, like Sheriff Joanna Brady over in Cochise County, Arizona, he knows that his "job is about way more than just catching bad people; it's about helping good people, too, and about putting broken lives back together."  

 

Even more than the solution of the mystery, it's how Frank Hayes, in often evocative and poetic language, has created a world and characters who, despite it all, focuses on the good that means the most to me. When I read a Virgil Dalton mystery, I am in Hayes' world. Want to know how deep? Shattered Dreams made me forget that I was stranded in a lonely hospital room, that's how deep. And this will keep me coming back time after time after time. I long for more books in this series, and I sincerely hope that this is one wish that comes true.

 

Shattered Dreams by Frank Hayes

eISBN: 9781950461004

Beyond the Page Publishing © 2019

eBook, 190 pages

 

Police Procedural, #3 Sheriff Virgil Dalton mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

November Road by Lou Berney

First Line: Behold! The Big Easy in all its wicked splendor!

It took a while but wiseguy Frank Guidry, a loyal lieutenant for New Orleans crime boss Carlos Marcellos, has finally learned that everyone is expendable. How? He knows too much about the crime of the century: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Within hours after the assassination, people with ties to Marcello start turning up dead, and Guidry knows he's next. He hits the road for Las Vegas to see an old associate who hates Marcello enough to help Guidry vanish. When he sees a young woman with two little girls standing by a broken down car on the side of the road, he figures they'll be good cover. Marcellos' men will be looking for a man alone.

For Charlotte, Guidry's promise of help in getting a new car in Las Vegas is all-important. That car is her escape from a stifling life in small-town Oklahoma with a hopeless drunk of a husband. What's unexpected is that these two people find each other on their journey. But they're breaking an unspoken rule: a road isn't just a road, it's a trail, and ruthless killers are closing in on Guidry... and Charlotte and her two little daughters.

With writing like "...the towel could have sanded the faces off Mount Rushmore", Lou Berney certainly knows how to turn a phrase, but that's just icing on the cake of November Road. He also is no stranger to crafting a fast-paced, spellbinding story populated with fully-fleshed, memorable characters. The story is told in three voices: Frank's and Charlotte's, the two people on the run, and a hitman most refer to simply as Barone.

The circumstances revolving around the assassination of JFK are more than plausible, and some of the scenes brought back a childhood memory or two, as well as Guidry's escape route along Route 66. The cat-and-mouse chase can make your heart pump a little faster as first we learn where Guidry and Charlotte are before switching to Barone who's rapidly closing the distance between them. Part of me wanted a fairy-tale ending for Frank and Charlotte, who begin to fall in love the closer they get to Las Vegas, but the other part of me was still in the real world. Berney proved to be skilled at leading me on.

No matter how strong the story and the writing are-- and they are-- it's the characters who make November Road something special. Theodore, a black teenager who finds himself traveling with a hitman. Charlotte, in despair over her life and the life she's giving her children, changes as she makes her escape from her sot of a husband, and her two daughters, Joan and Rosemary, are easily capable of stealing the show from time to time-- a necessary lightening of the tension that builds throughout the book. But those two children are also strong characters in their own right without becoming cloying caricatures. Even Guidry, who's spent his life living in the moment for whatever pleasure he feels like experiencing, undergoes a transformation when he comes into Charlotte's orbit.

Did I get my fairy-tale ending? That's for you to find out. November Road is a marvelous book, in turn nerve-wracking, funny, heartbreaking, and almost impossible to put down. It's going to be a long time before I forget characters like Charlotte and Theodore, and it goes without saying that I'm on the lookout for more books by Lou Berney.

November Road by Lou Berney

eISBN: 9780062663870

William Morrow © 2018

eBook, 320 pages

Historical Thriller, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

 

Dead Weight by Steven F. Havill

First Lines: The air conditioning in car 310 worked so well that my knees ached from the arctic blast out of the vents. The rest of me simmered.

Acting Sheriff Bill Gastner is a well-seasoned sixty-nine and working through the end of the previous sheriff's term. He knows every inch of Posadas County, and he knows the people who live there. That's why, when a backhoe crushes a man to death, he has a pretty good idea that there's more to this "accident" than meets the eye. 

While Gastner is investigating this case, he begins receiving anonymous letters accusing one of his deputies of extortion. This one Gastner takes personally and he's determined to get at the truth. Could this have anything to do with this being an election year?

When a second dead body turns up, it makes the insomniac sheriff make a promise to himself: When he retires, it's not going to be by way of a well-aimed bullet.

I love this series for its southern New Mexico setting, its well-crafted mysteries, and its ensemble cast. (Character-driven readers, take note!) There's something about mystery series involving small-town sheriffs in the western United States that seems to highlight how these people become a family, and Havill certainly knows how to use this to strengthen his story.

In Dead Weight, there's also one-book wonder Carla Champlin, the landlady from hell. Whenever she makes an appearance, I was equal parts amused and appalled-- and I did like how her storyline ended.

If there was an off note in this book, it was the fact that Havill spent a bit too long on trying to explain how someone could kill himself with a backhoe. I don't mind some technical stuff in order to solve a mystery, but when my eyes started to roll, I knew that part of the story had gone a bit overboard.

Even if I do know more about backhoe-as-murder-weapon than I want, I still enjoyed this book. Any visit with Bill Gastner and his law enforcement family is to be looked forward to and savored. And I do!

Dead Weight by Steven F. Havill

ISBN: 9781590586624

Poisoned Pen Press © 2011

Originally published in 2000.

Paperback, 285 pages

Police Procedural, #8 Posadas County mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from The Poisoned Pen.


 

Death on the High Lonesome by Frank Hayes

First Line: Jimmy Tillman hardly ever went on the interstate.

Sheriff Virgil Dalton knows that his sleepy hometown is beginning to reflect the times, and that's not always a good thing. But being aware of the changes doesn't take the shock or sting out of one of his deputies almost being killed by a woman's body falling from the highway overpass-- a woman the medical examiner believes had been running for her life.

Longtime resident Velma Thompson reports her husband Charlie missing, and no one thinks much of it. A tough old rancher, Charlie was known to saddle up a horse and ride over his land for several days at a time. But when Velma's body is found sitting on her front porch, Virgil knows something is seriously wrong and that Charlie must be found. Virgil saddles up and heads to the High Lonesome, the rugged mountains above the Thompsons' ranch house. On a windswept mesa, he's going to find the first clues that point to a murderer who's determined to get his way, no matter how many people he has to kill.

After the first book in this series (Death at the Black Bull) compared so favorably to both Walt Longmire and Harry Bosch, I was really looking forward to Death on the High Lonesome. What I read makes me look forward now to the third book.

If there's any weakness to be found here, it's in the mystery. For one thing, it's very slow to get moving, but that may be due to the second thing: it's easy to guess the identity of the killer. Those two things may be dealbreakers for some, but not for me because there's a lot more to Death on the High Lonesome than the mystery.

The dry landscape and mountains of the desert Southwest shine here and draw me right into the story. Frank Hayes has a sparse, matter of fact prose that can still lend itself easily to poetry especially when Virgil saddles up and heads into the arroyos and mesas of the high lonesome. (I don't know about you, but I've always found the phrase "high lonesome" to be incredibly evocative.) Death on the High Lonesome can also be called an elegy to the life of a rancher, a life that's fast disappearing.

The strong backbone of this series is its ensemble cast that is reminiscent of the cast of Craig Johnson's Longmire books. Virginia, a young woman who's having a profound impact on Virgil's personal life. The old Mexican, Cesar, who's Virgil's ranch foreman and second father. Virgil's Apache grandfather. Then there are the people Virgil works with: Rosie the dispatcher, Dif the old part-timer, young Jimmy, and Ark the medical examiner. Every member of this cast cares about the others, and they're pretty good about adding some comic relief from time to time.

If you like reading mysteries with strong characters and evocative settings, I urge you to try Frank Hayes' Virgil Dalton books. There is character development, so I recommend beginning with Death at the Black Bull. And now I'm looking forward to book three, Shattered Dreams.

Death on the High Lonesome by Frank Hayes

ISBN: 9780425274309

Berkley Prime Crime © 2015

Paperback, 304 pages

Police Procedural, #2 Sheriff Virgil Dalton mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Book Outlet.