A nineteen-year-old girl named Sunshine disappears one evening from the backcountry commune where she lives. She’s found the next day about a mile away, dead by strangulation. The other residents of the commune, an unusual collection of dropouts from society, are all potential suspects as Deputy Sheriff Manny Rivera tries to make sense of an odd collection of clues. In the end, the … the deputy’s own life is endangered as he gets closer to understanding the motive for Sunshine’s murder.
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LOVE THIS SERIES
Another very good book by this author. Always great descriptions of the beautiful Southwest.
MoonShadow Murder is book 4 in the Manny Rivera Mystery series and the first book by Rich Curtin that I’ve ever read. I have to confess that it moved at a much slower pace than most mysteries that I’ve read and enjoyed. MoonShadow Murder moves forward at a steady pace, but it wasn’t a page burner, a book that I couldn’t put down. At least that was the case until I reach the final chapters. The last half dozen chapters moved like a whirling dervish. The ending left me saying to myself, “Wow! I never saw that coming!”
The story begins with Deputy Sherriff Manny Rivera responding to the discovery of a young girl’s murder whose body had been discovered by a couple of hikers. The bodies pile up when a megalomaniac rancher is shot to death on BLM land he has grazing rights to. As Manny tries to find out who committed those murders, his boss, the elected sheriff, wants him to arrest members of MoonShadow, a hippy commune where the girl lived, because he has a personal vendetta against them. Manny feels they aren’t involved and continues to search for the perp elsewhere.
In the end, it looks as if Manny will become the murderer’s fourth victim when… Sorry! Go read MoonShadow Murder to find out what happened. All I’m going to say now is that I will buy and reading all the other books in this series, starting with books 1-3.
Each of the Manny Rivera books has been enlightening. You learn something different about the Four Corners region. The characters are unique, but everyday. It is a pleasure to open a new volume.
One of my favourite series and great location, rates with my favorite character and series Longmire.
All Rich Curtin books are enjoyable reading.
Rich Curtin continues to deliver great police procedural stories. As I live in the high desert just 4 hours from Moab, I appreciate Mr. Curtin’s love of Canyonlands country.
Manny Rivera is a wonderful character and I look forward to reading many more in this series.
Curtin is good!!
Looking at all possible avenues for clues.
I like the setting. The author does a good job of portraying the American Desert West.
I love Manny Rivera, the main character! The storyline flows steadily onward and I like that.
A puzzle and a surprise.
MoonShadow Murder, A Manny Rivera Mystery, was another heart-thumping page turner from the talented Rich Curtin. A beautiful young woman who lives in a commune is strangled in the high desert. Deputy Manny Rivera investigates the murder, but only comes up with more dead bodies. Three bodies, unrelated in any way. They have to be connected. What is he missing? Good detective work and a bit of luck lead Manny to a satisfying ending. I highly recommend.
For what should be a peaceful town, Moab sees more than its fair share of murders. Luckily, they have the awesome Detective Manny Riveria. He is a master of finding the bad guys. He is a technician at following the evidence and solving the murder(s).
Manny is known to bend the law, but only when necessary. This story has more emotion in it then the previous books. I just wish Manny’s love life saw as much action as his career.
Each book in this series keeps getting better. The author weaves interesting facts and descriptions into a well-plotted mystery. Manny is a likeable main character and each book expands his relationships with new and recurring characters. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
I think I have read 4 of this authors books – maybe 5. Every last one was good and a great read. His Manny character is very believable as are all the supporting cast. I am hoping I don’t overtake him – I would like to keep him on my active books to read list.
The humanity of Manny Rivera as a law enforcement officer is quite refreshing. A great series that makes me feel like I’m in the beautiful Moab area.
A very interesting series.
This was the first work I had read by this author, and I immediately bought his second book. The first was not a cliff-hanger ending (I will NOT buy a second book when an author does that!), but it was good enough to make me want to read more.
Good mystery.