Easy Errors (Posadas County Mysteries) - Hardcover

Havill, Steven

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1464209227 ISBN 13: 9781464209222

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2017

Synopsis

When the first Posadas County Mystery, Heartshot, published in 1991, Bill Gastner was the county Undersheriff. Over time Bill became Sheriff, then retired, and Robert Torrez took over the top spot. But what were Torrez's first days as a rookie officer like? Terrible!

It's 1986. Undersheriff Bill Gastner is enjoying his usual insomnia alone inside his old adobe when jolted by a horrendous noise. Dreading what he will find, he hastens to the nearby interstate exit where a violent crash has occurred. Not only is the vehicle that struck the support pillars totaled and the driver and a passenger crushed inside, a dead boy has been ejected.

As the appalled Gastner recognizes the youth and swings into action, the first deputy to join him at the scene is rookie Robert Torrez, the department's newest hire. Before Gastner can head him off, Torrez sees that the boy is his spirited younger brother. And the girl crushed inside the SUV is a younger sister. The driver of the Suburban, also dead, is the assistant District Attorney's teenaged son. Two local family tragedies.

A shaken couple reports that when the Suburban, careening at nearly 100 miles an hour, passed them on the interstate, activity inside hinted at its occupants' panic. Were the three dead kids running from someone-or something-rather than speeding? Further investigation reveals that a fourth teen should have been in the vehicle, but is now missing. Where had the four kids been? And why? It appears they'd lied to their parents.

Following his usual meticulous procedure, Gastner traces the vehicle's path to a remote canyon with attractive caves. The discovery he makes there balloons the case and introduces possible murder. Yet with a lack of witnesses hampering Sheriff Salcido, Gastner, Torrez, and other deputies, errors working the case can too easily be made.

About this title

About the Author

Steven F. Havill lives with his wife of more than forty years, Kathleen, in New Mexico. He is the author of more than twenty novels, taught secondary schools for 25 years, and recently earned an AAS degree in gunsmithing.

Review

"The story line is satisfyingly complex, but the novel's great strength is its well-rendered setting, from the opening description of a silent, motionless antelope to the evocation of a dry riverbed." (starred review) (Publishers Weekly for Blood Sweep, Posadas County Mystery #20)

"Fans of the long-running series will be drawn to the backstory here, which fills in gaps in the stories of both Torrez and Gastner. They will also respond to the qualities that have made this series so appealing over the years: meticulous plotting, multidimensional characters, sharp dialogue, and a vivid sense of place. This is one of the very best entries in a consistently excellent series." (Wes Lukowsky Booklist)

"In this prequel to One Perfect Shot, undersheriff Bill Gastner is first at the scene of a fatal car crash; two of the victims turn out to be the siblings of his new deputy, Robert Torrez, fresh out of the police academy. Were the three teens being pursued, and where is the fourth passenger? Fans and first-time readers will follow the case step by step in this compelling procedural, which leads from the accident to a remote New Mexican canyon and another death." (Library Journal)

About this edition

• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1464209227
• ISBN 13: 9781464209222
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 262