A BJ Vinson Mystery Confidential investigator B. J. Vinson thinks it’s a bad joke when Del Dahlman asks him to look into the theft of a duck… a duck named Quacky Quack the Second and insured for $250,000. It ceases to be funny when the young thief dies in a suspicious truck wreck. The search leads BJ and his lover, Paul Barton, to the sprawling Lazy M Ranch in the Bootheel country of … Bootheel country of southwestern New Mexico bordering the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
A deadly game unfolds when BJ and Paul are trapped in a weird rock formation known as the City of Rocks, an eerie array of frozen magma that is somehow at the center of the entire scheme. But does the theft of Quacky involve a quarter-million-dollar duck-racing bet between the ranch’s owner and a Miami real estate developer, or someone attempting to force the sale of the Lazy M because of its proximity to an unfenced portion of the Mexican border? BJ and Paul go from the City of Rocks to the neon lights of Miami and back again in pursuit of the answer… death and danger tracking their every step.
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**Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by DSP Publications for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.**
The third book in the series is The City of Rocks and kudos to the author for the very different storyline/mystery than the previous books. In this book, BJ has been hired to investigate the theft of a duck. Yes, let that sink in a minute. A duck. A duck worth $250,000. Seriously, the author wrote a book about the theft of a duck and did it brilliantly! What at first seems a simple task turns into a much, much bigger mystery and more dangerous than you’d think the hunt for a duck could be. This time the author has us in southwestern New Mexico, learning about a new area and new people.
In this third book, Paul is a bigger part of the story. Something I really need to remember is how different the early 2000’s were. While being gay or out isn’t that big of a deal, in many areas, that was not common in the timeframe this book exists in. Paul and BJ don’t hide that they’re gay, but they also don’t give an appearance of being gay. Really, it shows that technology isn’t the only area that’s really advanced in the last 13 years. Paul and BJ work together more in this book, and take their explorations from New Mexico to Miami. Like the previous book, the reader is taken along from start to finish on this case and following along to solve all the crimes that are adding up.
Not to brag or anything, but I knew from pretty early on who was responsible for what was happening on the Lazy M Ranch and the missing duck. I thought out of the three books, this one had the most obvious bad guy. But, never did the storyline fail to keep me intrigued and reading to get all the puzzle pieces in place. This author has a fantastic writing style with lots of detail to bring every scene to life.
I enjoyed Paul being in this book more than the previous ones, but don’t think this has romance elements, it does not. This is a mystery/detective series. I love for my mystery/detective series to have a main character in a relationship. I’m not a fan of too much mystery time being taken up with the elements of a relationship. I like for them to be a settled couple who are together, but as a sideline to the main part of the story and the author does that perfectly.
If you can’t tell from the reviews, I highly recommend mystery/detective story lovers to check this series out! I think you’re going to find writing, characters and cases that keep you coming back for more. The storylines are varied and you really get to follow along to solving the mystery from the very beginning. And, you really need to read this series in the appropriate order. The author is really building characters and a world in this series, and you’re short changing yourself by skipping any parts of that.
Rating: 5 stars!!