Frank Hayes (2)

After the first book in this series (Death at the Black Bull) compared so favorably to both Walt Longmire and Harry Bosch, I was really looking forward to Death on the High Lonesome. What I read makes me look forward now to the third book.

If there's any weakness to be found here, it's in the mystery. For one thing, it's very slow to get moving, but that may be due to the second thing: it's easy to guess the identity of the killer. Those two things may be dealbreakers for some, but not for me because there's a lot more to Death on the High Lonesome than the mystery.

The dry landscape and mountains of the desert Southwest shine here and draw me right into the story. Frank Hayes has a sparse, matter of fact prose that can still lend itself easily to poetry especially when Virgil saddles up and heads into the arroyos and mesas of the high lonesome. (I don't know about you, but I've always found the phrase "high lonesome" to be incredibly evocative.) Death on the High Lonesome can also be called an elegy to the life of a rancher, a life that's fast disappearing.

The strong backbone of this series is its ensemble cast that is reminiscent of the cast of Craig Johnson's Longmire books. Virginia, a young woman who's having a profound impact on Virgil's personal life. The old Mexican, Cesar, who's Virgil's ranch foreman and second father. Virgil's Apache grandfather. Then there are the people Virgil works with: Rosie the dispatcher, Dif the old part-timer, young Jimmy, and Ark the medical examiner. Every member of this cast cares about the others, and they're pretty good about adding some comic relief from time to time.

If you like reading mysteries with strong characters and evocative settings, I urge you to try Frank Hayes' Virgil Dalton books. There is character development, so I recommend beginning with Death at the Black Bull. And now I'm looking forward to book three, Shattered Dreams.… (mais)

Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire is my favorite sheriff, so when I come across a new one, I have to see how he measures up to Walt. I think Walt and Virgil would get along just fine. Dalton calls himself a half-breed, he considers an old Mexican man who is the foreman on his ranch to be his second father, and his grandfather lives in a trailer way out in the back of beyond. He doesn't miss much. He doesn't say much. And he certainly gets the job done. He knows his town isn't the "old yellow dog" town anymore, and he doesn't back down when it comes to demanding the city fathers chase the moths out of their wallets to get him the help he needs.

Most importantly, the thing that won me over was how Dalton treats the people around him. He treats them with respect, and he doesn't ignore people everyone else has decided are "throwaways." A case in point is his deputy, Jimmy. Jimmy had an extremely abusive childhood, and most folks in town think he's not worth much... in fact he may even be a bit slow. But Virgil knows the life Jimmy has led, and he's spent time with the young man, listened to him, talked with him, and taught him things he needs to know. As a result, Jimmy could very well turn out to be an exemplary lawman. Dalton is in the Harry Bosch camp: everyone counts, or no one counts, and I like that.

Yes, as I read Death at the Black Bull, I fell for Virgil Dalton. I also fell for Frank Hayes' writing. The descriptions of the desert setting are evocative, and he's got a knack for making readers care about his characters. I spent most of the book wondering if the bad guy(s) would find Dalton's grandfather, if something would happen to the sheriff's beloved horse or to the old Mexican Cesar or to Jimmy. I seldom ever spend so much time feeling nervous while I'm reading a book. But it was a good nervous. Know what I mean?

There's only one thing that made me roll my eyes, but I can't really say anything about it without giving away major plot points. I'll just let you wonder about it. I expected Death at the Black Bull to be good, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how good it really is. Now I have to get my hands on a copy of the next book in the series, Death on the High Lonesome. I'm looking forward to my next date with Virgil Dalton.… (mais)

When the body of an unidentified woman falls from a highway overpass onto Jimmy Tillman’s cruiser, a small southwestern town is thrown into a mystery that will have far-reaching consequences. The woman, it seems, was running away from something. But who . . . or what . . . caused her to flee for her life?

Meanwhile, Hayward Sheriff Virgil Dalton is kept busy with a missing rancher and the unexpected death of the rancher’s wife who was found sitting in a chair on her front porch, an empty tea cup on the small table beside her. Does the woman’s death have anything to do with her husband’s disappearance?

Virgil finds himself with puzzling bits and pieces and far more questions than answers. But when his investigation turns up evidence of a killer, will he be able to track down the murderer before there’s another death?

With richly-drawn, complex characters, an incredible sense of place, a plot that takes several unexpected twists, and more than enough suspense to keep the pages turning, readers will find much to appreciate in this intriguing tale.

Highly recommended.… (mais)