From Publishers Weekly
In Havill's satisfying fifth Posadas County puzzler (after 2006's
Statute of Limitations), undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman and her colleagues discover three Hispanics shot to death, execution-style, at a remote New Mexico airstrip. Judging by the victims' soft hands, well-dressed appearance and airborne arrival, these are no ordinary illegals, and it's up to the sheriff's department to determine who's behind the crime. Meanwhile, a local reports his plane as having logged unexplained airtime. A Mexican exchange student's watercolor artwork lends the first clue to the puzzle, and the resulting answer astounds even the well-seasoned undersheriff. Estelle suspects she knows the next victim, and her attempt to stop the death toll lands her face-to-face with this calculating killer. Havill takes the reader through an all-terrain investigation to an edge-of-your-seat finale.
(June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Since Havill's Posadas County series changed its focus from now-retired Sheriff Bill Gastner to Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman four episodes ago, the emphasis has switched from small-town procedural to domestic drama, as Reyes-Guzman juggles the often-contradictory roles of mother, wife, and cop. This time, though, Havill returns to straight-ahead police work, and the series feels energized as a result. A 100-mile bicycle race has come to Posadas County, and the local cops are hustling to maintain security on the mountainous route. When one of the competitors is found dead on the trail, Reyes-Guzman looks for a motive that might connect that crime with the bodies of a Central American family found near a little-used airstrip. The action and suspense have been ratcheted up several notches here, but Havill's always-sensitive depictions of human relationships remain the backbone of the series. Successfully blending light and dark elements is the key for any crime author basing a series in ordinary life, and it looks as if Havill, by darkening the brew just a bit, has once again found the right shade.
Bill OttCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
