When
I realized that Laura Griffin, author of the very good Innocence
Road, had a new book coming out, I put my request in on NetGalley. I
would not have noticed if not for the awesome Lesa Holstine who brought it to my
attention. She did, I went and looked, and soon was approved. While I liked that
book more, this one is also a solidly good read.
Like
Innocence Road, Thunderbird Ranch has a strong
female detective being marginalized by her boss. The read also has a lot going
on and gets very complicated very fast.
As
Thunderbird Ranch opens, Lilian Lasko is going with her
boyfriend, Will, to meet the family. It is a Friday, deep in the searing heat
of a Texas summer, and the day before a birthday party for his widowed mom.
Faye’s birthday also will mark the one-year anniversary since her husband,
Will’s father, died. It has been a horrible year, the ranch has major issues
that some point on the old barn will not fix, and the drought that is searing
Texas is taking a toll everything. At least part of the place is still looking
good thanks to the reach of a spring fed creek.
Faye
Bowen McCann is a strong-willed woman and certainly does not seem to be
devasted by grief, no matter what Will said. Faye McCann is not impressed with
Lilian and has the resources to address that issue. She also has big plans for
the ranch. Plans that Will’s brother and sister do not like at all. They also
do not seem to care for Lilian at all.
Then
there is Sheriff’s Deputy Kate Graham. Late one day she has been out at Mason’s
Quarry chasing away beer drinking kids from an adjoining county. Dispatch calls
her on her cell phone to tell her that the sheriff wants her to get out to
Thunderbird Ranch immediately. He won’t say why, but did tell dispatch to tell her
to keep it off the radio.
Once
Deputy Graham gets out there and finds the sheriff, she realizes he said to keep
it off the radio for good reason. There has been a murder.
Before
long, Sheriff Bruce Hard has made her the lead detective of the case. A case
that gets more and more complicated as the pressure from the Sheriff as well as
the District Attorney demand it be solved. This is her first murder case, and
it easily could be her last, for more than one reason.
A
complicated read full of interesting characters, Thunderbird Ranch
is well worth your time.
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://link.amazon/B0eWgiHxl
My
digital ARC came from the publisher, Berkley Publishing Group, through NetGalley,
with no expectation of a positive review.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2026
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