Posadas County Mystery
5 primary works • 16 total works
Book 6
Book 19
Book 19
Book 20
Book 22
Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman is always busy, but more so now than ever. The sheriff is still not completely recovered from his stay in the hospital, and she is recovering from a hospital stay herself. After a long day at work, Estelle is happy to clear off her desk and drive home, where her beloved family waits. She hears her cell phone ringing as she pulls into the driveway. A truck has gone off the road and the driver's body found near the wreck. Back on the job, Estelle drives to the scene, where she finds more questions than answers.Was the truck's going over the hill really an accident? And why was there a single footprint on the man's body? An autopsy spurs further puzzles. Steven F. Havill paints a vivid portrait of this small New Mexico town in the sixth entry of this atmospheric, entertaining series.
When the first Posadas County Mystery, Heartshot, published in 1991, Bill Gastner was the county Undersheriff. Over time Bill became Sheriff, then retired, and Robert Torrez took over the top spot. But what were Torrez's first days as a rookie officer like? Terrible! It's 1986. Undersheriff Bill Gastner is enjoying his usual insomnia alone inside his old adobe when jolted by a horrendous noise. Dreading what he will find, he hastens to the nearby interstate exit where a violent crash has occurred. Not only is the vehicle that struck the support pillars totaled and the driver and a passenger crushed inside, a dead boy has been ejected. As the appalled Gastner recognizes the youth and swings into action, the first deputy to join him at the scene is rookie Robert Torrez, the department's newest hire. Before Gastner can head him off, Torrez sees that the boy is his spirited younger brother. And the girl crushed inside the SUV is a younger sister. The driver of the Suburban, also dead, is the assistant District Attorney's teenaged son. Two local family tragedies. A shaken couple reports that when the Suburban, careening at nearly 100 miles an hour, passed them on the interstate, activity inside hinted at its occupants' panic. Were the three dead kids running from someone-or something-rather than speeding? Further investigation reveals that a fourth teen should have been in the vehicle, but is now missing. Where had the four kids been? And why? It appears they'd lied to their parents. Following his usual meticulous procedure, Gastner traces the vehicle's path to a remote canyon with attractive caves. The discovery he makes there balloons the case and introduces possible murder. Yet with a lack of witnesses hampering Sheriff Salcido, Gastner, Torrez, and other deputies, errors working the case can too easily be made.
In this Posadas County mystery featuring Estelle Reyes - Guzman as the undersheriff, former sheriff Bill Gastner is peering out of the wings to which he dispatched himself upon retirement. For Estelle, coping with her new job and her family is still far from easy, and now she is faced the death of a young woman on a motorcycle - a death that may have been caused by improper driving by one of the county's officers when he tried to stop her for speeding. Estelle soon learns there is more to this case than meets the eye, and now she must find her own way to solve the mystery of the woman's death.
Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman is called in to investigate a scene of domestic violence, but she becomes suspicious of an outside assailant when the family's next-door neighbor disappears.
Venice, 1734. Singer Tito Amato has let fame go to his head. Neglecting his vocal practice for dubious pleasures, Tito finds himself demoted to secondary roles and overshadowed by a visiting star. When the murder of scene painter Luca Cavalieri threatens
A man's body is found in the unforgiving New Mexico desert, his face so smashed that identification is impossible. It's the beginning of a brutal murder spree that will take Posadas County's new undersheriff, Estelle Reyes - Guzman, into a case with roots on both sides of the border. Retired Sheriff Bill Gastner, now a livestock inspector for the state, is still close at hand to provide unerring logic and horse sense as Reyes - Guzman attempts to identify the "Juan" Doe. Another body turns up in a shallow grave, revealing little about the killer, but more about the victims. And when a suspicious fire takes a third life, the terrible twist finally offers the break Estelle has been looking for, one that will lead her back into a harsh, merciless desert where death welcomes all.
When Posadas Register reporter Linda Real barely survives her nighttime patrol with one of Undersherrif Bill Gastner's deputies who is killed by a more accurate shotgun blast than the one that ruins her face, Bill gets angry. Teamed with his intuitive, observant detective Estelle Reyes - Guzman and her usual sharp eye for physical evidence, Bill implicates Tammy Woodruff, the thrill - seeking daughter of the local Republican County Chairman, in the brutal assault. Before he can interrogate her, though, she scoots. Soon Tammy is found crushed to death after her truck goes off the road while she's loaded with booze - too much alcohol, in fact, for anyone to hold...Originally published in 1996 by St. Martin's Press, Before She Dies is the fourth Undersherrif Bill Gastner mystery following Poisoned Pen Press' releases of "Heartshot," "Bitter Recoil," and "Twice Buried."