Dead for the Winter

"Victim Advocate" Chloe lives in an old mining town (now a small artist's colony) in southern New Mexico. She has a brief relationship (a couple of dinners) with Terry, a charming man who tries to talk to her about something worrying him -- bur first confesses that he's married. She angrily walks out and thinks that her relationship with him is over, until her role as Victim Advocate results in her being called to the scene of a questionable death -- Terry's -- and she finds herself comforting the widow. Her relationship with Terry quickly gets reported, and her job is in jeopardy. She's told to take a vacation -- so she ends up using her free time to look into Terry and his death. Chloe is an interesting, likeable character, and the New Mexico community described comes to life for the reader. Some of the secrets uncovered by Chloe were a bit obvious, but I did not guess the identify of the killer. I intend to read more by this author, and I think this book deserves to be nominated for some awards.

Thornton's hardwork over the years is really paying off. This finely crafted book is so enjoyably written! The characters are as engagingly quirksome as Martha Grimes' Jury, Plant, and company. And, yes, we see glimpses of our own humantiy throughout!! You don't want to miss this one. A true joy to read. One of those books you are so sorry to finish. Thank you Betsy Thornton!!!

While on leave due to a case that left people dead, Cochise County, Arizona Victim Advocate Chloe Newcombe hires carpenter Terry Barnett to build a bookcase for her. However, with her former lover somewhere south of the equator, Chloe finds the charming Terry quite attractive and ponders a fling with him. Several observers watch her flirt outrageously with Terry, but the affair ends before it starts when he calmly mentions his artist spouse Heather; Chloe rejects the idea as not worth the complication. Chloe must have had a prophecy because not long afterward, someone murders Terry. Besides Heather as a suspect, Chloe is also considered a strong person of interest by Detective Flynn. Unable to sit idly by as a prime candidate and especially when Terry's estranged brother Fred arrives from Ohio planning to prove his sister-in-law, whom he never met, killed his sibling, Chloe begins investigating. She quickly learns how the brothers had a falling out over April Matasky twenty years ago and follows up by digging deeper into the suddenly caring Fred. The who-done-it is a well written combination amateur sleuth (in some ways competing sleuths between Fred and Chloe) and police procedural. The mystery resolution seems stretched, but readers will not care because what truly makes the tale and the series so powerful is Chloe. She is the poster worker of "to err is human" and though an excellent victim advocate makes misjudgment calls that prove costly to her clients. In other words, she is not perfect on the job or for that matter in her romances. Fans will appreciate this solid tale because of the fabulous lead female. Harriet Klausner