Before She Dies
The danger of being a small-town cop, according to Posadas County, New Mexico, Undersheriff Bill Gastner, is that the daily humdrum will lull you to sleep, and then when all hell breaks loose, you're not ready. Young deputy Paul Encinos wasn't ready. He is found dead beside his squad car on a country road, the victim of three shotgun blasts. Seriously wounded in the attack but still clinging to life is Linda Real, a local reporter who was accompanying Encinos as background for a story. Gastner and his top officer, Estelle Reyes-Guzman, don't have much to go on: a shell casing, part of a wrench, and a partial tire print. Meanwhile, the town's bad girl, Tammy Woodruff, has disappeared, suggesting that she may have been a witness to the murders. The fourth Gastner case is easily the best, no small feat in a series as strong as this one. Gastner is compassionate, intelligent, bulldog tough, and painfully aware of all his limitations, both physical and emotional. The same inward eye that provides insight into his own soul can quickly swivel outward to discern others' hidden traits. And if what you're hiding is motive, Gastner will ferret it out and do what needs to be done. An outstanding mystery.Wes Lukowsky--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.