Review: A Reluctant Saint: A Josie Gray Mystery by Tricia Fields

It is mid-April in southwest Texas and far hotter than usual as A Reluctant Saint: A Josie Gray Mystery by Tricia Fields begins. Weird things are happening at her isolated house. Weird Stuff like a dog leash that was her dog’s before he died suddenly goes missing from where she had it. Then a coat that belongs to Nick Santos suddenly appears on her doorstep. It isn’t the first time somebody has messed with her at home. Her home security setup, state of the art a few years ago, is dated now and is not catching the person in the act.

Weird stuff is happening in the town of Artemis as well. A recent transplant, Mike Striker, is running to be mayor. Rumor also has it that he is planning on building a greyhound dog track. If true, such a track would bring jobs and economic development, at least initially. It could also bring crime issues. Beyond the fact that it isn’t really feasible to think that such a project is remotely sustainable in the county with only around seven thousand folks living there.

The town itself has approximately 2,500 people and Police Chief Josie Gray has her hands full with routine matters. Her department, as is the county sheriff’s department, is very short staffed. Federal grants will pay for new police vehicles, for example, so they have them, but such grants don’t pay for staff. Equipment is great, but having additional police officers on staff would really help. The current situation is made worse by the fact that folks are getting very riled over the dog track issue. Then there are the rumors of voter fraud and the fact that mayoral candidate Mike Striker might have tampered with the election voting machines.

As things heat up, somebody steals two greyhounds from Jezebel Black’s home. She is involved with the project as she is now breeding greyhounds though she has no experience with doing so. The good news is that she is working and things seem to be going well as she tries to restart her life after a horrendous incident awhile back. The theft of the two dogs and vandalism of her property that happened as the dogs were taken is a setback for her.

Then the murders begin.

This is the seventh book in the series that began long ago with The Territory: A Novel and is one that hit this reader very hard. Without causing a spoiler, one of the murder victims is a long-time character from that has routinely appeared since early in the series. A murder that came out of the blue with no warning. That murder rocks everyone in the book and could change everything in the series going forward.

Whether this will be used as some sort of watershed turning point for the series from this point, or the end, I have no idea. It has been a few days since I read the book as I write this review and I am still grasping at understanding the impact and how things will go forward. Something that I think Police Chief Josie Gray does as well at the end.  I freely admit that the event colored my judgment of the rest of the book as I was so devastated by what I read.

A Reluctant Saint: A Josie Gray Mystery by Tricia Fields is a complex book that feels like it easily could be the end of the series. While I am glad (I think) I read the book, I can’t say I enjoyed it due to the shocking event as noted above. Those new to the series should absolutely not read this book, without catching up first, as a lot of material from previous books is rehashed here. 

While the book is currently scheduled to be released on September 6^th, I was able to read it now thanks to a digital ARC from Severn House via NetGalley.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022