The murder of Rusty Randall, a young man who wanted to write a book about a historic Utah ranch that was once a refuge for outlaws, comes as a shock to those who have befriended him as he researched his project. They can offer Deputy Sheriff Manny Rivera no obvious motive for the crime.

The newly married lawman is equally puzzled at first. The victim seemed to share Manny's love for the high desert country, his project harmed no one, and he had made many friends and no apparent enemies while doing his research.

As Rivera interviews people who'd encountered the victim, every potential motive seems to fizzle like chaff in a desert wind. The only consistent factors seem to be artifacts Randall found related to a young woman who mysteriously disappeared in the area of the ranch decades earlier. Can the two crimes be related? If so, how?

As Rivera concentrates on the mystery, he is also worried about an upcoming election that he fears the current sheriff might lose to her predecessor, a man Manny despises and vows never to work under again. He has decided to resign from his job if the election goes the wrong way, though it would mean leaving the Moab region he loves and also forcing his bride to give up a position she has just accepted.

There are plenty of twists and turns before Manny, good detective that he is, unravels the many skeins and solves not just the murder but an earlier crime as well.

I've now read six of the 10 books in the series and have become a fan of Rich Curtin, who spins intriguing stories with realistic characters and vivid descriptions of the high desert country he appears to love as much as his character does. In many ways, this series reminds me of all I love in the Navajo Country books of the late Tony Hillerman.

[ visit Rich Curtin's website ]