The Old Gray Wolf (Charlie Moon Mysteries)
Fleeing purse snatcher LeRoy Hooten suffers an unlikely demise in Granite City, Colorado, after being hit first by a can of black-eyed peas thrown by Police Chief Scott Parris, then by an uppercut from Deputy Charlie Moon. When a less-than-accurate account of Hooten’s death goes viral, his mother—a wealthy, wheelchair-bound Illinois widow with Mob connections—hires an assassin to make the lawmen suffer as she has. Meanwhile, Louella Simpson, granddaughter of a legendary Texas Ranger, starts tracking the assassin in a quest to turn her bounty-hunter exploits into a true-crime book. Moon’s crotchety Aunt Daisy Perika, a Ute shaman, continues to bedevil her nephew with accounts from the spirit world “just for the fun of it” as the various players descend on Granite City, where mistaken identities complicate things, and some good people die. This seventeenth Charlie Moon mystery features Doss’ trademark folksy prose style, replete with asides to the reader that can be off-putting. But it’s easy to fall under his sway and thoroughly enjoy this entry in a series that skillfully blends crime and Native American spirituality with a light touch. --Michele Leber