Bag Limit

This is the last in the Bill Gastner Posadas County Sheriff's Department series and one of the best. I won't add in a lot of detail about the plot as others have done a good job. Steven Havill is one of the best of the New Mexico mystery writers even though he is not as well known as Tony Hillerman or Michael McGarrity. His characters are so well drawn out that as the reader progresses through the series they become good and old friends, the kind that you like to spend a lot of time with. I suggest starting with the first book, "Heartshot", and going right on through the series. The author has continued the series with Estelle Guzman, a Posadas County Sheriff's Deputy and Gastner's good friend, as the main character. Havill just keeps on getting better and better. His novels leave the reader with a good, warm feeling.

Do you ever wonder why some authors make it to the big time, while other, more talented authors don't? Well, I can name you a dozen big-time mystery writers who made it to the top that don't really belong there. Meanwhile, Steven Havill's Bill Gastner series cruises right along in relative obscurity. Do yourself a favor - check out this interesting series. Think of burrito-loving, coffee-guzzling 70-year old insomniac Sherrif Bill Gastner as the Anglo version of Tony Hillerman's Lt. Joe Leaphorn and you've got a good idea of how good this series is. Rather than go into plot details, let me just say that this book is probably not the book to start the series with. However, it is an entertaining read. Character development is at the heart of this series. I give this one a grade of A

This is eighth and final installment of a very enjoyable series involving Sheriff Bill Gastner and the small county of Posadas, New Mexico. The Sheriff and all the others are back with the Sheriff happily counting down the hours until he gratefully leaves office. He is looking forward to the peace and solitude of his adobe home with absolutely nothing planned to do upon his retirement.Still an insomniac as much as ever, he relishes taking his police vehicle and driving up in what passes for mountains in his area and contemplating the scene below in the dark hours of the night. From his perch, he sees the beginnings of what appears to be a routine police chase of a drunk driver. However, the driver flees and is soon headed up toward Sheriff Gastner as the vehicle follows the switchback mountain road steadily higher.Sheriff Gastner happens to be sitting on a small gravel turnoff that few know about and is not visible to traffic on the road. Matt Torrez is the drunk driver of the vehicle containing himself as well as two other teenagers and he knows the little road as well. Thinking that he is going to escape from the fleeing officer, who turns out to be his cousin as well as the most likely new sheriff after the election, Robert Torrez, Matt turns down the little used road.Before he can stop, he rams Sheriff Gastner's car driving it precariously close to the edge. Matt escalates things further by refusing to surrender and instead, fleeing into the scrub brush where he soon vanishes. His companions are not so fortunate.Soon, the chase is on to figure out where Matt is and why he is running from a simple traffic stop. Along the way, Sheriff Gastner will also find himself tangled up in a the middle of a cattle rustling case as well as election year politics, family problems, and what to do after he leaves office. To detail more would simply ruin the work as many things in this novel are interconnected as well as connected to previous novels.This final installment is another very good read and numerous loose ends are tied up. While Mr. Havill does not plow any new ground with these characters, it is a real pleasure to welcome back old friends. After eight books, this reader feels like he has known these character all his life and I will sorely miss this series and its easy familiarity with readers. While this was the final Gastner book, the new series, which started with "Scavengers" has turned out to be a very good read as well.

I have read all the Bill Gastner books and this one is another in a fine, underrated series. The plot is, as usual, well crafted and interesting and the array of characters, both familiar and unfamiliar (including the culinarily-gifted grandson)engaging. This is the book that bridges the gap between Gastner as under-sheriff and his new life and it does not disappoint. The New Mexico setting is also as fascinating as usual. I do not understand the editorial criticism of the plot as slow-moving--I thought it one of Havill's best, most absorbing and exciting. I recommend Bag Limit as a worthy successor to those that have preceded it.