Less Than a Moment: A Posadas County Mystery by Steven F. Havill is
the latest installment in a series that began long ago with Heartshot.
This is a series where characters age, relationships evolve over time, and
always present is the stark beauty of Posadas County, New Mexico. That aspect,
a distinct and deep appreciation of setting, is always raised to a level that
is its own constant presence in the series. The setting is a character in its
own right. Sometimes the desert country is front and center in the tales and
other times it is more of a backdrop to the mystery and the crimes that are
happening.
In this case, the desert country is very much in the forefront of
the read as is the legendary “NightZone” development. Designed to bring
tourists as well as scientists to an astronomy based scientific installation in
the New Mexico desert, it is home to various telescopes aimed at the wonders of
the heavens above. There are frequent detailed references to the events in Come Dark: The Posadas County
Mysteries published in 2016. Readers are encouraged to, at the very least, read
that book before embarking on this read.
Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman has a lot going on this Friday
morning in late May. That includes a meeting out at Night Zone with Miles Waddell,
owner and financial backer of NightZone. That meeting will also include
Frank Dayan, publisher of the local paper, and Kyle Thompson. Kyle Thompson,
through a development company, has purchased a massive amount of acreage that
abuts the NightZone project and rumors are swirling as to what will be
built on the property. Thompson is not a local and no one knows what his
intentions are which is causing stress among the locals. That includes the many
folks who now rely on the NightZone project for good jobs.
What will be built is very important to Waddell as he has spent
millions and millions of dollars on the project. His entire development is
designed to avoid all outdoor lighting of any type on the mesa it sits on or on
the surrounding land. Everything has been meticulously designed to preserve the
dark night skies. If the rumors of a planned housing development are true, this
would be devastating to NightZone which is now fully embraced by all in
the area.
That meeting is the launching pad for the main mystery of the book
that soon features a murder, several suspects, and a complicated case with several
interesting angles. While family certainly takes a role in the primary
storyline, family is a far more major player in the two secondary storylines.
One of which is the fact the kids are back in town and Undersheriff Estelle
Reyes-Guzman is again having a hard time finding time to spend with them as
various local events and the schedule of the kids work against her. One does
not want to be an obtrusive grandmother, but one does not want to miss out on
everything either and crime stops for no one.
The second of the two secondary storylines involves the no
nonsense Sheriff, Robert Torrez, and his nephew, Quentin Torrez. As anyone who
has read the latest edition of the local newspaper, Posadas Register, already
knows, the young Quentin Torrez was arrested in recent hours for his third DUI.
If that was not bad enough, he soon finds himself the target of an angry Sheriff
who also suspects he might have been the culprit behind some vandalism. Then a
murder happens and soon he is one of several potential suspects as law
enforcement works hard to identify and apprehend a killer.
As always in this series, things are complicated, and they
certainly are in Less Than A Moment: A Posadas County Mystery. Billed
as the 24th in the series, this latest one has all the elements
that have made this entire series so very entertaining. Less Than A
Moment: A Posadas County Mystery by Steven F. Havill is another great
read and is strongly recommended.
Big time thanks go to Lesa Holstine who mentioned late last week
this book was out. Big time thanks go to my son, Scott, who able to figure out
what to do to get the eBook through our closed Dallas Public Library System and
make it all work so that I could happily read the tale on my iPad and escape
reality for a few hours.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2020
No comments:
Post a Comment