Strung out to Die - Dean L. Hovey

Ranger Grace Watanabe discovers fellow Ranger Erik (Red) Petersen's dead body tangled in the barbed wire at the Manzanar National Historic Site entrance. The local sheriff's department quickly decides the death is related to a Mexican cartel who use the nearby highway to smuggle drugs.

Park Service Investigators Doug and Jill Fletcher look for a more obscure motive by focusing on other groups who might be unhappy with the Manzanar site. Finding no obvious suspects or motives, they step back and realize the victim was targeted for an entirely different reason.

Editorial Review

Susan Davis, Editor

I have been hooked on author Dean L. Hovey's "Doug Fletcher Mysteries" since book one. Each mystery has a plot life of its own, and each of the characters plays their individual roles perfectly, so much so that the stars, Doug and Jill Fletcher (and Jamie Ballard in this book), become friends with the reader.

The settings that Doug and Jill find themselves in are not just descriptive, but also vivid and authentic, adding a layer of realism to the narrative. They are the investigators from the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch sent wherever they are needed, and they are exceptional at investigations and finding the truth.

My expectations have always been met in Hovey's mysteries...and I look forward to where the Fletcher's will be sent next and what will unfold is always a surprise.

Series Review

In Western Justice, the reader is introduced to Doug and Jill Fletcher, National Park Service investigators... I like using Historical and National parks not only for a backdrop of the story, but also as a character in itself. Doug and Jill soon learn the identity of a murder victim, opening it up for more unusual suspects and intriguing characters. The story line has a great depth to it, and the characters have interesting traits, flaws and personality. This story lands the reader in Vore Buffalo Jump National Historical site, and it's a dump job for the victim. A very unpredictable story, my favorite kind! This book is both thrilling and intriguing, all the way to the end. Western Justice is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews.