Undersheriff Bill Gastner Mysteries
2 total works
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.
A well - seasoned sixty - nine, Sheriff Bill Gastner knows his Posadas, New Mexico, territory as well as he understands the foibles of the human condition. So when a backhoe crushes a man to death, it's more instinct than fact that leaves him feeling there's more to this "accident" than meets the eye. Adding to his problems, anonymous letters charging his best deputy, Tom Pasquale, with hustling Mexican nationals for cash are being dispatched around town. Gastner takes this one personally; he's fond of his deputy, but he does want the truth. He also knows it's an election year and dirty politics can happen anywhere. So can murder. Soon he's got not just one, but two dead bodies. And a strong desire to make sure that when he does retire, it's not by way of a well - aimed bullet...