The Fourth Time Is Murder: A Posadas County Mystery [Hardcover]

Review of The Fourth Time is Murder

I've been a fan of the Posadas County series of police procedurals since 1991's Heartshot, but until this installment, I never felt the same affinity for Undersheriff Guzman as for her predecessor, Sheriff Bill Gastner. In this fifteenth novel in the series, Havill rightly moves the focus from Guzman's family life to her police work. Dr. Francis and the boys are still around, but very much in the background. A more prominent role for Gastner is also welcome.
The Fourth Time is Murder presents three storylines, two woven together seamlessly and one standing alone. Havill leaves one of the storylines open, hopefully to be concluded in the next novel. Another minor storyline involving a Posadas County deputy, is never fully resolved, while the main storyline is brought to a satisfying resolution. The next novel in the series will hopefully pick up where The Fourth Time is Murder left off.
Posadas County, as always, is a palpable presence throughout the novel. Characters who have previously only played background roles are given much larger parts as they help--or hinder-- Guzman's investigation.
For fans of the series, this novel is the best addition in years. To readers looking for a mystery series with a strong sense of place: welcome! Posadas County is the perfect place to spend an evening...or a night...or an early morning, riding the backroads with an insomniac undersheriff.

In my opinion, this is the best Posadas County mystery since the series switched focus with Bill Gastner's retirement from the force. Estelle Reyes-Guzman seems to have hit her stride as the central character; maybe it took the author a few books to perfect his 'female' voice. Good story, strong supporting characters, enough of Padrino to satisfy his fans and a great car chase to end!

It takes the body a long time to heal when you nearly die. For Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman, the violence that nearly killed her happened over a year ago and she still isn't back to normal. She is working again, but she feels it from time to time in ways she never felt it before. The fatality on Regal Pass not only reminds her of how fragile life is but how her body is still not healed.

Psychologically, she isn't healed either. Something the dead man doesn't care about as he lays crumpled in the wreckage of his truck. Hundreds of feet down the mountainside the wreckage is difficult to get to in daylight and late at night with mist and cold closing in the San Cristobal Mountains it is extremely dangerous. Obviously the man is dead and the wreckage has been down the cliff strewn among the rocks and boulders for while.

But, somebody else has been there. It isn't just the fact that various identifying items that should be in the truck aren't there in the shattered hulk or strewn around the area. Amidst the beer cans and debris of what is left of the truck, the victim has part of a shoe print on his hand. Somebody stepped on his hand. Since it wasn't any of the rescuers it means it was either a witness or a murderer.

The latest in the series finds Estelle juggling issues with her family, a national reporter determined to write a profile of her for a woman's magazine, and a murder. The conflict between her role as a parent and her job continues as well as a growing realization that her family is moving towards a different future that may or may not be what she ever wanted. That concept which is growing stronger in every book since Bill Gastner was eased off the main stage is a huge theme here along with the idea that the border, like the vein of life, is as thin ribbon easily crossed by good and evil alike.

Once again, Steven F. Havill brings Posadas County and its people to like in a series that fundamentally changed several novels ago. While it hasn't been the same since Bill Gastner was moved to the role of a secondary character, Estelle Guezman more than holds her own in this novel that delivers a strong storyline, plenty of action, and depth to the read. This simply might be the best book he has written since the switch in the series and I suspect it will be nominated for many awards.

Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2009