Even small towns have secrets worth killing for… A skeleton in a makeshift stone grave is discovered on a remote bluff overlooking Labyrinth Canyon in southeast Utah. Cause of death: a bullet to the back of the head. The victim turns out to be a controversial investigative journalist from New York City who moved to Moab a few years earlier for some peace and quiet. That’s what he found, but … what he found, but only for a little while. He couldn’t shut off his investigative instincts and began probing into a dangerous situation about which the town folk were totally unaware. He got too close to a well-kept secret and that eventually cost him his life.
Manny Rivera, a Grand County deputy sheriff, is assigned the case. Time is of the essence, as an unsolved murder in the backcountry will inevitably inhibit tourism, Moab’s sole economic driver. To solve the case, he must unravel a series of four puzzling questions. In the end, he is torn by a moral dilemma, testing his commitment to the letter of the law.
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It’s a page turner.
I liked this books and will be looking for more of them.
I love this series of books, always enjoy his Manny’s mind works.
Excellent mystery. Good detail.
Well written, well edited. Interesting characters in an interesting location. I look forward to reading more by this author.
Enjoyed reading about the Moab area.
First book I’ve read by Rich Curtin. Love his deputy Manny Rivera, enjoyed the Moab setting with the beautiful descriptions of the countryside and pleasant weather. This mystery followed the find of a skeleton who was a former NY journalist and it was up to Manny to find his killer. It involved a lot of following the clues, and unfortunately several other people died during the process. I don’t want to give it away, but the type of book that keeps your brain engaged while you cannot put it down.
Love this series ,can’t put it down have to finish reading it , ! I highly recommend !
This was a very realistic and entertaining story. The author keeps you away from the perpetrator as long as possible. He makes the characters believable and likable. All of this adds up to an interesting tale worth the read.
Enjoyed
There may be 10 books in this series. Manny Rivera is a deputy sheriff in Moab, Utah. Rich Curtin uses this picturesque setting for mysteries that somehow involve the area and its history. Manny is an entirely believable and interesting character around which to build stories. I highly recommend these books
I love this author and the Protagonist in this series. Plus I love the SW!
I loved the setting and the true to life background of a desert setting. A modern plot of computer hacking in a traditional setting.
Love the Manny Rivera series
I have read several in this series and have enjoyed them. The detective is methodical and very cerebral. Set in a part of the country I’m not familiar with but I like the descriptions; however, they can get too long sometimes. Overall I like the mysteries and enjoy the process of how they are solved.
This is one of the books I chose to read during my COVID-19 quarantine. As a member of a high-risk group, I had no desire to waste what time I might have left reading (spare me) “thrilling” mysteries, “thrilling psychological” mysteries, or God forbid, those involving “amateur sleuths.” This isn’t to say that there aren’t some good books among the books among that so described mob. It’s just that I’ve discovered enough chaff wrapped in such descriptions them that I wanted a book with a solid plot. It would really irritate me if I died while reading a crappy book. I wanted the well-developed characters, plot, and other qualities that I knew a book in Rich Curtain’s Manny Rivera series would provide.
Like the other books in this series I’ve read, February’s Files also brings the wild Utah desert and canyon environment alive. The role it plays in the plot never reads like a literary device. If he mentions it, it’s because it matters. It keeps reader’s on their toes as well as offers them scenes of solitary beauty that stick in the memory. The characters also demand reader attention for multiple reasons that keep readers on their toes as the story evolves. And never fear, there’s plenty of excitement in the plot and many unexpected twists and turns that lead to a most satisfying, if somewhat possibly maybe sort-a unorthodox ending. But not for Manny Rivera.
Another great book in this series.
Good read.
great hero with a good story in a terrific setting.
I enjoy the Manny Rivera mysteries. They keep me guessing and are not full of foul language or sex scenes. I could recommend these stories to my friends.