The Fourth Perspective (CJ Floyd Series #5)

CJ Floyd's antique and Western collectibles store is finally open and he's left bail bonding and bounty hunting far behind—or so he thinks. An old book he buys turns out to contain much more than a dry history of 19th-century Montana: tucked inside is a never-before-seen photograph from the Golden Spike ceremony, a seminal event in American history. It's an item collectors would kill to get. And when the book's former owner turns up dead, police peg CJ as the prime suspect. With help from his former partner, Flora Jean Benson, and his cadre of urban cowboys, CJ sets out to find the killer. The investigation draws him into the bizarre world of cutthroat collectors, museum curators, eccentric power brokers, and small-minded academics, all on a vicious treasure hunt for the ultimate jackpot. This fast-moving mystery blends action and intrigue with one of the most fascinating chapters in the history of the American West.

Publishers Weekly

Last seen in 2005's Resurrecting Langston Blue, CJ Floyd has retired from bail bonding and bounty hunting, and opened a collectibles store in Denver with the help of a friend and fellow antiques dealer, Lenny McCabe. The straight and narrow life is clearly not for CJ, no matter how much he and his fianc e, Mavis Sundee, might wish otherwise. He buys stolen books from a man who's shot dead minutes later, gets caught up in the search for the killer and a $1-million daguerreotype that was in one of the books, and then learns his old nemesis, Celeste Deepstream, is still on his trail, seeking revenge for her brother's death. Greer layers on the complexity up to the very end, drawing deeply on Old West history and the many facets of African-American life in cowboy country to develop rich characters and plot lines; even if you get the big picture early on, it's worth finishing for the subtle details. Several loose ends suggest further sequels. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Robert Greer lives in Denver where he is a practicing surgical pathologist, research scientist, and professor of pathology and medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He edits the High Plains Literary Review and reviews books for KUVO, a Denver NPR affiliate.