Synopsis:
To most people, hat pins are vestiges of the past, used now only by elderly ladies who don't leave home without a hat. But recently the notion store in Posadas county has been doing a good business selling hat pins to teenaged girls.
There had been a fight--over a boy--and the other girl, Carmen Acosta, had been suspended. But her friends were still around, and Deena wanted something to defend herself with.
Not long afterward Estelle is called to Carmen Acosta's home. When she arrives, Carmen's father, Freddie, is in police custody and an unconscious Carmen is on the way to the hospital "beat to a pulp." It is, of course, hard to believe that young Deena is responsible. Estelle has many other suspects to choose from, since the Acosta family holds the record for the number of domestic violence calls the police have received. The question is, which of the other four children or which parent is responsible? Or is it someone else entirely?
Havill draws his readers into the life of this small border county in New Mexico. Estelle is not only an undersheriff, she is the mother of two delightful little boys, the wife of a warm and likeable surgeon, Mexican-American like herself, and the daughter of a wise old woman whose life has been spent south of the border. But the threats from Havill's fans would have been dire if he had dispensed with Billl Gastner, the dearly loved former sheriff. Bill may officially be retired, but he's quick to give Estelle the value of his experience when she needs it, and proud to have been chosen by the Guzman boys to be their surrogate abuelo--grandfather. This is an author who never puts a foot wrong.
From the Inside Flap:
Praise for the works of Steven F. Havill:
"The personal lives of Estelle and her comrades are as vivid as their professional ones....Havill has created an absorbing and entertaining universe."
- Publishers Weekly on Discount for Death
"Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman gets her second star turn here, and longtime fans of Posadas County, New Mexico, won't mind a bit . . . A couple of tense 30-hour days are in store for the hard-pressed law enforcement officer, but bright, resourceful, tough-[minded Estelle demonstrates anew that she's got game. . . .Estelle's a charmer."
- Kirkus Reviews on Discount for Death
"Havill's forte is a police procedural that seems to go at a real-life pace without slowing down enough to be dull; the tension is there, always building. The book's charm is quiet and lies in its characters and their do-a-job approach to crime."
- Rocky Mountain News on Scavengers
"A taut, police-procedural that continues to underscore how well Havill has captured life in small-town New Mexico ...He has fashioned his characters beautifully and vividly describes the essence of the region."
- San Antonio Express-News on Scavengers
"Nice, easygoing, entirely literate prose...[readers] will delight in dollops of local color and in Sheriff Bill, of course, who may well be the most endearing small-town lawman ever."
- Kirkus Reviews on Bag Limit
"Havill does an excellent job of balancing the cozy aspects of the story with police procedure. Fans will cast their vote for a continuation of the series."
- Publishers Weekly on Dead Weight
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