Tucson private detective and Army veteran Letty Valdez finds the Iraq War has come home to haunt her in Daemon Waters: A Letty Valdez Mystery. Letty is hired to investigate the murder of an environmentalist, ferret out a cheating husband, and find two missing U.S. Army veterans. She discovers a sinister web of interconnected crimes, including a car bombing and two long-distance sniper … assassinations. What about that special veteran, the one with the lop-sided grin that her dog Teddy found up in a tree? Can Letty keep him safe from an assassin’s bullet? Like all Letty Valdez mysteries, Daemon Waters has suspense, intrigue, and a touch of romance in this Mexico-U.S. Borderlands thriller.
more
This, the third installment of CJ Shane’s Letty Valdez Mysteries, is a fitting tribute to the character of Letty, who has remained somewhat mysterious up to this point.
A modest, unassuming veteran, Letty chooses to hide her past griefs and instead focus on taking care of family, friends and clients of her detective agency. In Daemon Waters Letty’s past traumas finally threaten to overcome her—despite her inner strength, her resolve to go on with her life and her recognition of the long-term effects of PTSD. As in previous Letty Valdez novels, one of author Shane’s strengths is the characters she creates—all of them fascinating people with unexpected talents, personalities, origins and depths. For me, because I am familiar with the area, another strength is her Southern Arizona settings, evocative of life in Tucson, over the border in Mexico, and on the desert expanse of the Tohono O’odham Reservation.
The story balances environmental concerns about toxic water, the all-consuming greed of some people, and the unshakeable friendships of others in a well-crafted and satisfying mix of skullduggery, dogged detecting, and devotion.
Letty meets a new client who wants to know if her husband, a financial advisor, is cheating on her. She thinks he might be planning a divorce and she fears he could be hiding assets to deprive her of her share of their investments.
The same day the brother of an Afghanistan War veteran asks Letty to find his missing brother, who he believes may be in Tucson. A veteran of the Iraq War herself, Letty agrees to do what she can.
Then she is asked to investigate the supposedly accidental death of an environmentalist, a research professor at the University of Arizona.
On top of this pile of work she takes on a new assistant, a distant relative of hers with no work experience beyond stocking grocery shelves, but with a keen intellect and a passion for computers.
All of the strings in this tale are nicely woven together into a memorable story made more memorable by the ongoing unfolding of character and characters. Letty Valdez is creative, courageous, compassionate and wholly committed to doing right by all those she encounters. I find her one of the most genuinely likeable characters in contemporary mystery fiction, and the people who care for her take a close second. Virtually no one turns out to be exactly who you think they are in this fast-paced tale, however. By the time readers turn the last page of Daemon Waters, I predict they (as do I) will look forward impatiently to the next Letty Valdez Mystery.
I received an advance review copy (ARC) of this book and the opinions stated here are entirely my own.
“Daemon Waters” is by far my favourite book in the Letty Valdez Mysteries series. There’s a wonderfully tangled set of mysteries that get solved thread by thread; the characters bloom; the writing is so much more confident.
There are a lot of chuckles in this one… a couple of gasps… and near the end, I was laughing out loud with a tear or two trickling down my face.
I truly loved this one.
I voluntarily reviewed this book after receiving a free copy.
Daemon Waters is the third in the Letty Valdez Mystery series. In this story, CJ Shane deals with the difficult topic of PTSD among war veterans including Letty herself. Letty also has to deal with lies, danger, violence, and a bit of romance. I find that Letty is coming more into herself with each book, in this case trying to heal her heart and soul while confronting the ghosts of her past. The author handles these subjects well in her writing.
The descriptions of Tucson and Native American life in the desert bring you into the story with Letty as she continues on her journey for justice. A well-written story with excellent characters. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book with no obligation.
Thoroughly enjoy the characters, good plot, really knows Tucson. Multi cultural, lots of action. Good mystery.