Prolonged Exposure

Savvy storytelling infused with a spicy Southwestern setting.
"Not only does Havill offer a melancholy reinterpretation of that grand western myth of the slow-talking, fast-thinking lawman, he also writes crisp, marvelously detailed police procedurals in which a mix of technical know-how and informed common sense gets things done."—Booklist Bill Gastner is going crazy recuperating from heart surgery. Dreaming of green chili, he's rescued by a phone call from back home. The Undersheriff arrives in Posadas County only to learn that his own home has been burgled. Moreover, Gastner finds his cranky ancient neighbor Florencio Apodaca has borrowed a bit of land to bury his equally ancient wife—and the dead woman's stepson questions if she died a natural death. Meanwhile a young boy out camping has vanished from atop Cat Mesa. A stringent search convinces Bill, his treasured deputy Estelle Reyes-Guzman, and Sheriff Martin Holman that the boy has been spirited away.
Poisoned Pen Press has republished the five earlier novels in Steven Havill's carefully, cleverly detailed police procedural series richly redolent of southern New Mexico.
Look to Worldwide/Harlequin for Out of Season (0-373-26382-1) and to St. Martin's for Dead Weight (0-312-25203-X) and in Nov. 2001, Bag Limit (0-312-25183-1).

Savvy storytelling infused with a spicy Southwestern setting.
"Not only does Havill offer a melancholy reinterpretation of that grand western myth of the slow-talking, fast-thinking lawman, he also writes crisp, marvelously detailed police procedurals in which a mix of technical know-how and informed common sense gets things done."—Booklist Bill Gastner is going crazy recuperating from heart surgery. Dreaming of green chili, he's rescued by a phone call from back home. The Undersheriff arrives in Posadas County only to learn that his own home has been burgled. Moreover, Gastner finds his cranky ancient neighbor Florencio Apodaca has borrowed a bit of land to bury his equally ancient wife—and the dead woman's stepson questions if she died a natural death. Meanwhile a young boy out camping has vanished from atop Cat Mesa. A stringent search convinces Bill, his treasured deputy Estelle Reyes-Guzman, and Sheriff Martin Holman that the boy has been spirited away.
Poisoned Pen Press has republished the five earlier novels in Steven Havill's carefully, cleverly detailed police procedural series richly redolent of southern New Mexico.
Look to Worldwide/Harlequin for Out of Season (0-373-26382-1) and to St. Martin's for Dead Weight (0-312-25203-X) and in Nov. 2001, Bag Limit (0-312-25183-1).

Publishers Weekly

Fine storytelling married to a spicy Southwestern setting marks the latest Bill Gastner mystery (following Privileged to Kill, 1997). Gastner, undersheriff in New Mexico's Posadas County, is recuperating from heart surgery at his daughter's Michigan home, but he can't wait to get back home to the land of green-chili burritos and real sunshine. When his chief of detectives, Estelle Reyes-Guzman, calls to tell him that his home has been burglarized, he moves up his departure date and heads home. The action swirls around Gastner like leaves in a high wind. First the burglary: probably kids, but they've managed to steal precious memories along with several guns he had locked up. Then an elderly neighbor, Florencio Apodaca, has mistaken a piece of Gastner's land for his own and buried his wife on it. And finally, a young boy camping in the nearby hills with his parents has managed to disappear, and Posadas County officials are coordinating a massive search for him. As Gastner, his daughter, Camille, and his colleagues all begin to adapt to his physical limitations, Gastner remains a solid center, using his knowledge and experience to good effect as the various cases of burglary, kidnapping and murder play out. (Apr.)

Steven F. Havill is the author of 21 novels set in the American west. He lives with his wife, Kathleen, in Raton, New Mexico.