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June 4th, 2007 Mary K. - Central

In my opinion, C.J. Box is one of today’s best American mystery authors, and his new book Free Fire is a particularly strong series entry.  As readers of In Plain Sight know, game warden Joe Pickett was fired from his previous job as a Wyoming game warden, and he is now at loose ends, working and living on his father-in-law’s ranch.

So when the governor calls and asks him to investigate four murders at Yellowstone National Park, Joe leaps at the chance, and quickly involves Nat Romanowski, who has been his friend and sidekick in many of his adventures.

The mystery does not lie in who did the killings; a local attorney has already turned himself in and was not prosecuted due to a loophole in the federal laws that makes it impossible to prosecute for crimes in the park.  But it is not clear why he killed the 4 men and that is what Joe must discover.  Despite a lack of cooperation on the part of park authorities, Joe hits the ground running.

Box has clearly done his research about Yellowstone and he uses the locale and the people who work at the park skillfully in the plot.  He is also very good at weaving environmental concerns into his books.  His writing brings the park alive in many ways.  For example, we get to know the Geyser Gazers, who are convinced that a major earthquake will destroy the park soon. 

Read this strong mystery series for the characters, particularily Joe and his family, for the strong portrayal of the West and its environmental issues.  The storytelling is superb as well.

What’s even better is that C.J. Box will be reading and autographing his books at Madison’s Booked for Murder on June 8th.

Entry Filed under: Mystery