Life in a small town in Minnesota is not supposed to involve complex crimes in the middle of a heat wave, at least that’s how Sheriff Red Hammergren feels, but when missing public-health nurse Joanie Crea’s body is found on the run-down estate of the formerly wealthy Grandgeorge family, tensions and suspicions run away with the locals. There is little help coming from Joanie’s rigid, bureaucratic robot of a boss or her glad-handing, church deacon of a husband. The body of a second woman is found and information from her abused and recently beaten young son may hold a key. A mystery man with a green jacket, missing funds, and long-held secrets all play with Red’s sixth sense, making her feel that the solution is just beyond her grasp. Help comes from Red’s poker-playing buddies and Waltz, a crime scene tech, but her indomitable need to solve the crime is primary. This is a deeply atmospheric and compelling read. We can only hope for more from the series.
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