Liked it although it does have some flaws. Foreword from the author says this is a revised version of her first mystery, I would not be surprised to hear it's a first book. I pulled it out of the library book sale since it looked to be set very close to where I live. The setting itself is a fictional town, amalgamating features from north Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, and Rio Verde. Decent descriptions of the desert setting and the ranches. Joe is a likable protagonist and there are some interesting secondary characters, but you don't get the sense any of them are very deep. It's a little scattered, Phelan should have cut out at least one of the crime plots. There's a really detailed scene about the law firm's processes that just screams CLUE HERE at the reader, but maybe it's balanced by major details of saddling a horse and team roping, which wasn't needed for the plot at all. But all in all, I did enjoy it, I also bought the other three so I'll be giving them a try.

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