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Sheriff Bobby Torrez is out hunting antelope on private property (with permission; he is the sheriff and very by-the-book) when someone takes a shot at him - a damn good shot. Somebody either got very lucky when they missed killing Torrez, or was very good to have missed him on purpose at quite a distance. Which was it? Just as important, who was it? And why was Torrez the target, if he was the target?
Is any of this connected to the multi-million dollar theme park being constructed by the owner of the land on which Torrez was hunting? There are people opposed to the park, and people in favor of it. It's a small town; everyone has an opinion. While this is being investigated, the bank manager has a private discussion with Estelle about her mother and her mother's account. Estelle finds out that someone is trying to scam her mother, something to do with Estelle's son Francisco who is in Mazatlan doing a concert. Then a man calls, claiming to be Estelle's uncle, to tell her that the threat no longer exists. Turns out the men who were running the scam are dead. This does nothing to dial down Estelle's worry over her son.
In the middle of all this, Bill Gastner is found lying on his garage floor, having fallen eighteen hours before and broken his hip. No simple fracture, either. So Estelle is flying, literally, all over New Mexico trying to get Bill taken care of, keep her fingers in the investigational pies, and find out more about this supposed uncle of hers. It seems that every string she tugs on is somehow connected to some unexpected and vital strand of a large web. It's enough to drive a woman to drink.
BLOOD SWEEP is the twentieth novel in the Posadas County series. Steven Havill knows what he is doing. He has transitioned the series from Bill Gastner as the strong male lead to Estelle Guzman-Reyes as the strong female lead with an ease that is deceptive. His knowledge of the area is both broad and deep, making the setting essential when it needs to be and part of the background when it is less so. As the series progresses and there is more back story for each character, the plots and storylines get more complicated. This adds a richness to the series, particularly for those readers who have followed it for years. Havill can suck in a reader new to the series without having to fill in every last detail. This is a talent much to be appreciated. BLOOD SWEEP leaves enough dangling ends so that most readers will want to read the next in the series. Good job all around.
§ P.J. Coldren lives in northern lower Michigan where she reads and reviews widely across the mystery genre when she isn't working in her local hospital pharmacy.
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, May 2015
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