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Overview
Aging Posadas County Undersheriff Bill Gastner has weathered his quadruple bypass and is taking a rare vacation up in the state's northern mountains. He's escaping meddlesome medical providers who wish he'd reform, but his heart is in staging a reunion with his former detective Estelle Reyes who is working in San Estevan County.
Arriving a day early at the Steamboat Rock Campground, his camping plans are interrupted by sirens. Suddenly, Gastner, Reyes, and her new husband, a doctor, reunite, not over dinner, but over the body of a pregnant young woman.
As first the detectives assume she was a hit-and-run victim. Then the the medical exam reveals she was instead thrown from a moving vehicle after a rape attempt. Gastner's curiosity is piqued — but he's on vacation. Then four more deaths follow and the still-to-be-reckoned-with lawman steps in to stop the rash of murders....
The authentic flavor of southern New Mexico combines with strong detective work and irresistible characters to produce a second winner for Bill Gastner after Heartshot. Look for further reprints from Poisoned Pen Press, including Twice Buried.
Synopsis
Aging Posadas County Undersheriff Bill Gastner has weathered his quadruple bypass and is taking a rare vacation up in the state's northern mountains. He's escaping meddlesome medical providers who wish he'd reform, but his heart is in staging a reunion with his former detective Estelle Reyes who is working in San Estevan County.
Arriving a day early at the Steamboat Rock Campground, his camping plans are interrupted by sirens. Suddenly, Gastner, Reyes, and her new husband, a doctor, reunite, not over dinner, but over the body of a pregnant young woman.
As first the detectives assume she was a hit-and-run victim. Then the the medical exam reveals she was instead thrown from a moving vehicle after a rape attempt. Gastner's curiosity is piqued — but he's on vacation. Then four more deaths follow and the still-to-be-reckoned-with lawman steps in to stop the rash of murders....
The authentic flavor of southern New Mexico combines with strong detective work and irresistible characters to produce a second winner for Bill Gastner after Heartshot. Look for further reprints from Poisoned Pen Press, including Twice Buried.
Publishers Weekly
An unusual setting, rural New Mexico, and a decidedly non-New Age sleuth give this second mystery from the author of Heartshot a few fresh angles. After bypass surgery, 62-year-old Undersheriff Bill Gastner should be taking it easy, laying off the beer, the rich food and the smokes. But he isn't. Instead he drives across the state to San Estevan to visit Estelle Guzman, his former deputy, for a big feed and a chance to talk over old times. But the trip becomes a busman's holiday when he agrees to help Estelle investigate the case of a battered, pregnant young woman found unconscious near a road at the bottom of a remote canyon. A hit-and-run? The injuries don't quite compute. When the victim dies, suspects include her lover's local hippie gang and a priest who fathered her young daughter. Deftly avoiding tourist traps as he steers his plot to its unpredictable resolution, Havill delivers an evocative tale of hard lives on the edge of society. His portly detective is a genuine low-key pleasure. (July)
Editorials
From the Publisher
"This one's a winner all the way." —Washington Times“The authentic flavor of the New Mexico locale is so real you’ll be tempted to check your shoes for fine red dust.”
—Mystery Scene
“Havill delivers an evocative tale of hard lives on the edge of society. His portly detective is a genuine low-key pleasure.”
—Publishers Weekly