Review: The Blue Horse: A Porter Beck Mystery by Bruce Borgos

 

This comes out Tuesday... 

The Blue Horse: A Porter Beck Mystery by Bruce Borgos begins in September 2020. Covid is making an impact and will directly affect the good sheriff of Lincoln County, Nevada, in the coming days and weeks. But in the here and now of this beautiful September morning, Sheriff Beck and Chief Deputy Tuffy Scruggs are on horses are chatting and watching as wild mustangs are being herded for capture.

 

Sheriff Beck, 48, and with worsening eyesight problems that make him almost blind at night, is soon to be Chief of the Investigative Division of The Department of Public Safety. He is looking forward to the new job though he hates to move on from what he does now. That loss is mitigated by the fact that the new job means he will get to see his girlfriend, Charlie Blue Horse, a state police detective, a lot more. He is also happy to turn over his current job to Tuffy Scruggs who will be the new sheriff.

 

With drought gripping the land, the Bureau of Land Management ordered an emergency roundup of the wild horses in the area. The goal is to remove almost fifteen hundred stallions, mares, and foals from the surrounding public land. Protestors have made their presence known, but they are not close to where the helicopter today is herding about forty wild horses known to the locals as the “Willow Creek Band.”

 

The horses are being herded into a nearby canyon with high limestone walls. Those walls hide the view as the helicopter makes multiple passes above and below the rim as the pilot expertly maneuvers to herd the horses for capture. Those same walls hide the view as the helicopter maneuvers down out of sight, but the noise of it crashing is heard loud and clear. Sheriff Porter Beck also believes he heard a gunshot which would mean it was not mechanical failure or pilot error.

 

Riding their horses, it takes two minutes for Sherriff Beck and Chief Deputy Tuffy Scruggs, to arrive on scene. It is instantly clear from the wreckage that nobody could have survived. It also does not take long to verify that Sherriff Beck was right that the pilot was shot and killed in order to cause the helicopter to crash.

 

That murder leads to a complicated case of politics, natural resources and land use, and quite a lot more. It won’t be the last death in this complicated and very enjoyable read.

 

As it is the third book in a very good series that began with The Bitter Past: A Novel, there are various references to earlier books and events. Sheriff Beck has been coping with a lot, personally and professionally, and all that was child’s play compared to what is in store for him here in The Blue Horse: A Peter Beck Mystery by Bruce Borgos.

 

It is also one heck of a good read. Strongly recommended.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4lvbutj

 

 

My digital ARC came the publisher, Minotaur Books, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a review. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025