Happiness Is A Book: PERFECT OPPORTUNITY BY STEVEN HAVILL

 Happiness Is A Book: PERFECT OPPORTUNITY BY STEVEN HAVILL

FFB Review: Come Dark by Steven Havill-- Reviewed by Aubrey Nye Hamilton

Back in late April 2017, Aubrey started contributing guest reviews. As I have long said, you could make quite the reading list just off the reviews she contributes here. Add in the books she reviews at her own place, Happiness Is A Book, and you are very well set. Her first one here, reprinted below, was on an installment of one of my favorite series. I very much liked this read in the series, probably because I love planetariums, telescopes, and all things space related. This place would be awesome to visit if it actually existed. The power of fiction to make things feel real is very evident in the read. If you have not read this series, you really should.

 

Come Dark by Steven F. Havill (Poisoned Pen Press, 2016) is the 21st title in the Posadas County contemporary mystery series. Set in fictional Posadas County, New Mexico, a few miles from the Mexico border, this series began with Undersheriff Bill Gastner as the protagonist and shifted in the 10th title to Estelle Reyes-Guzman, originally a detective in the sheriff’s office who later moved up in rank. Books 16 and 18, according to the publication dates, feature Gastner again, as Havill decided to go back in time to expand on some of the characters’ history in those stories. Otherwise each book builds logically on the previous books. 

Havill’s entry on Stop! You’re Killing Me sorts the books in chronological sequence according to the story line, not the publication date. Readers new to the series might find this list helpful. And yes, it is possible to read each book as a stand-alone. Havill is adept at sketching enough backstory for the reader to grasp context and characterization. However, these books are so good that it is not likely anyone will want to read just one.

In this latest entry, the huge astronomy park rancher Miles Waddell is building inches closer to completion, with the train that will convey visitors finished enough to allow journalists and local politicians to ride to the top of the mountain where the park is sited. However, the park’s massive satellite dish falls victim to the anonymous graffiti artist who has been decorating the schools and other buildings in town. In addition, one of the patrolling officers runs a routine check on a car with an out-of-state license plate to learn the plate is not on the vehicle it’s registered to and the people in the car don’t have a good explanation. On the same day the young wife of a banker walks into a big box store, leaving her baby and puppy in a hot car with the windows closed, and does not return. To spread the staff of the Sheriff’s Office even thinner, the high school custodian goes to the school Saturday to clean up after the big game the night before and finds the body of the coach in the showers. With multiple visible gunshot wounds, the cause of death is not in question. On the homefront Estelle’s mother is celebrating a milestone birthday and Francisco, Estelle’s musical genius of a son, arrives unexpectedly from the conservatory where he is studying to participate. Bill Gastner is still recovering from the hip fracture incurred in the previous book.

All of the usual characters are present, if a couple of them are only mentioned by the others. For instance, Estelle doesn’t want to bring Linda Real, the department photographer, to the crime scene because she is in the last stages of pregnancy and Estelle thinks there’s no need for her take chances. New officers and some temporary personnel bring a sense of realism to the department, which is perennially short-staffed and underfunded as any rural sheriff’s office is likely to be.

The plot lines unfold in a coherent manner; pacing is smooth and unrushed. My only quibble here is with the subplot involving Francisco, the musical prodigy, and it isn’t intrinsic to the story. Highly recommended, as is the entire series.

Series: Posadas County Mysteries (Book 21)

Hardcover: 308 pages

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (April 5, 2016)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1464205256

ISBN-13: 978-1464205255

 

Aubrey Hamilton ©2017, 2022

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: Statute of Limitations by Steven Havill

Steven Havill’s police procedural series set in fictional Posadas County, New Mexico, has been among my all-time favorite mysteries for years. I discovered the series early when its lead character was Undersheriff Bill Gastner. After nine books, Havill acknowledged Gastner’s advancing age and retired him, shifting the focus to Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman. Gastner remains a constant presence in the background, serving as unofficial advisor to his former employees and as official godfather to Guzman’s two sons.

The change in protagonist added a domestic thread to the narrative arc without sacrificing its detection emphasis, as Guzman juggled a full-time job with erratic hours and family responsibilities. The stories with Gastner, a widower whose grown children are scattered, were always centered on his work. The prequels that Havill has produced offer additional insight to Gastner’s earlier life but by and large the Gastner books are strictly about the crimes of the moment.

In Statute of Limitations (Minotaur, 2006) Guzman is settling in for a happy Christmas Eve with her family when a call comes in for her doctor husband that requires him to leave. A short time later she’s called out for what appears to be an attack on the retired village chief of police. A couple of hours later she and Sheriff Bob Torrez are taking down a pair of thugs in the church where her mother and aunt attended Christmas Eve mass only hours earlier. Christmas morning she awakens to the news Torrez has relapsed from the injuries he suffered in the fall and is being airlifted to Albuquerque. Christmas afternoon brings the discovery of a body in an arroyo and in the evening Guzman finds Bill Gastner prone on his doorstep with a head injury, resulting in a Christmas that is far from merry for county law enforcement.

Guzman spends as much time monitoring medical reports as she does fielding a dismayingly thin force to probe a homicide that appears to have no apparent reason. The methodical investigation that leads to a completely unexpected motive while maintaining daily operations is one of the hallmarks of these stories. The realistic map of Posadas County, showing the towns and villages with landmarks and various state roads referenced in the books, is a wonderful gift to the reader. Highly recommended series, especially for fans of police procedurals.

 

·         Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (March 21, 2006)

·         Language: English

·         Hardcover: 304 pages

·         ISBN-10: 0312336306

·         ISBN-13: 978-0312336301

 

Aubrey Hamilton ©2020

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.