Barbara L. (Barbllm) reviewed on 11/16/2009 + 241 more book reviews

Joe Pickett is out of his element in this outing, which finds him temporarily transferred to Jackson, Wyoming, after fellow warden and friend Will Jensen commits suicide. Meanwhile, back in Saddlestring, Pickett's loving wife Marybeth struggles to keep her family together while running her business. Joe finds that some of the circumstances leading to Jensen's death don't add up and he begins investigating his friend's death with the help of a married woman, Stella Ennis, whose husband is attempting to build Beargrass Village near Jackson: a large development where animals will be hunted at the whims of the homeowners. There are a lot of subplots in this story, including the attempted capture of a grizzly by Joe and Trey Crumb; Joe's attraction to the married Stella as well as Marybeth's asking Nate Romanowski for help; an extremist environmentalist group's involvement (led by the oddly named Pi Stevenson) with Beargrass Village and, of course, Joe's butting heads with the local politicians.

Box writes wonderfully: you can visualize Jackson and the Tetons by his descriptions alone. Only in America is there a mountain range called the Grand Tetons which, translated in French, is 'large breasts.' His male characters show depth, especially Joe. Randy Pope is more a one-note bureaucrat. Marybeth is somewhat layered but his other female characters are gold-digging shrews (Joe's mother in law, Missy, whom I hope gets eaten by a bear in his next book) or flirty (Stella Ennis) or abrasive (Pi Stevenson). Like the other reviewers, Box's novels don't get enough love and this surprises me. I'm recommending this series to all my mystery-loving friends.

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details