Steven F Havill
"In close-knit Posadas County, where everyone knows everyone's business, it turns out that some people can bury secrets, and some secrets are murderous."—Kirkus Reviews
It's Christmas in Posadas County. Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman is settling down to a quiet evening with her family, until her doctor husband gets a call from the retired chief-of-police: he's at a nearby motel, having pains. Then Estelle gets a call herself.
...1892: Busy stitching and bandaging lumberjacks' injuries, young Dr. Thomas Parks has no idea that his worst enemy is lurking in the sleepy village of Port McKinney.
When one of the working girls at the Clarissa Hotel is brought to the Clinic desperately ill, Thomas' newly arrived associate wastes no time in making the diagnosis - Asian Cholera has somehow found this backwater near Puget Sound. The cholera strikes viciously and kills in days,
...Another Posadas County mystery with Estelle Reyes-Guzman as the undersheriff, but with the ever more popular Bill Gastner peering out of the wings to which he dispatched himself upon retirement. Estelle's new job continues to be far from easy, and now she is faced the death of a young woman on a motorcycle—a death that could have been caused by improper driving from one of the county's traffic officers when he tried to stop her for speeding.
...4) Twice Buried
Third book in the Posadas County Mystery Series
"Gastner is an incisive investigator whose two most valuable qualities are compassion and insomnia. Unlike other fictional detectives who approach murder as a personal affront, Gastner sees himself as the victims' advocate, striving to even the scales of justice for those no longer able to do it themselves."—Booklist
When two baffling crimes strike Posadas County,
...Second book in the Posadas County Mystery Series
"Havill delivers an evocative tale of hard lives on the edge of society. His portly detective is a genuine low-key pleasure."—Publishers Weekly
When Undersheriff Bill Gastner heads to New Mexico's mountains for some respite, the last thing he expects to find is a dead body. But he's a cop through-and-through, and he can't let a criminal walk...
Aging
...6) Come Dark
Next book in the Posadas County Mystery Series
When a series of minor crimes culminate in murder, Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman will have to partner with a retired sheriff to get to the bottom of the case
Posadas County, New Mexico, is in the news.
NightZone, a mammoth astronomy theme park, is bringing in jobs, media, and much-needed new infrastructure. The property's recently been vandalized, but that's hardly
...The rugged Cat Mesa country north of the village of Posadas is hosting the first annual Posadas 100, a cycle-cross bicycle race that promises to attract more than 140 competitors. Despite enough injuries during the pre-race practice to promise a spectacular and dangerous race, Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman has even more pressing concerns on her mind. Someone has been using Jerry Turner's big Cessna 206 and then returning it to its hangar at
..."If what you're hiding is motive, Gastner will ferret it out and do what needs to be done. An outstanding mystery." —Booklist starred review
Posadas Register reporter Linda Real barely survives her nighttime patrol with one of Undersheriff Bill Gastner's deputies. He is killed by a more accurate shotgun blast than the one that ruins her face. Teamed with his intuitive, observant detective Estelle Reyes-Guzman and her usual
...A well seasoned sixty-nine, Sheriff Bill Gastner knows his Posadas, New Mexico, territory as well as he understands the foibles of the human condition. So when a backhoe crushes a man to death, it's more instinct than fact that leaves him feeling there's more to this "accident" than meets the eye. Adding to his problems, anonymous letters charging his best deputy, Tom Pasquale, with hustling Mexican nationals for cash are being dispatched around
..."Havill...quietly continues a project virtually unique in detective fiction: anchoring his tales of crime and punishment as closely as possible in the rhythms of small-town friends, routines, and calamities." —Kirkus Reviews
Rolling stone Wesley Crocker seems a harmless enough free spirit when Posadas County Undersheriff Bill Gastner offers him a lift on the road and spots him a free dinner. Crocker beds down for the night
...Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman is always busy, but now more so than ever. The sheriff is still not completely recovered from his stay in the hospital, and she is recovering from a hospital stay herself. After a long day at work, Estelle is happy to clear off her desk and drive home where her beloved family waits. She hears her cell phone ringing as she pulls into the driveway. A truck has gone off the road and the driver's body found near the
...Sheriff Estelle is called to teenager Carmen Acosta's home. When she arrives, Carmen's father, Freddie, is in police custody and an unconscious Carmen is on the way to the hospital "beat to a pulp." There has been a fight over a boy, but it is hard to believe that the also young Deena is responsible. Estelle has many other suspects to choose from, since the Acosta family holds the record for the number of domestic violence calls the police have
...Parked high on a side road on the flank of the second highest peak in the San Cristobal mountains, peacefully surveying what soon would no longer be his responsibility as a sheriff, almost-seventy Bill Gastner could think that the night would be without incident. He'd be wrong. He doesn't foresee that a car full of alcohol-inspired adolescents would run into his automobile. Nor that the driver would take off and disappear in the nearby woods. Far
...The acclaimed New Mexico mystery series continues as a former deputy leads an investigation into a series of perplexing murders.
A man’s body is found in the unforgiving New Mexico desert, his face so smashed that identification is impossible. It’s the beginning of a brutal murder spree that will soon take Posadas County’s new undersheriff, Estelle Reyes-Guzman, into a case that has roots on both sides of the border.
...15) Double Prey
"Havill is a master at using procedural details to expose the complexities of small-town relationships, but he also excels at drawing meaning from landscape." —Booklist
A rattlesnake fang pegged in a teenager's eye is just the beginning of a spring day for Posadas County Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman. The injured lad's older brother goes missing, and is found dead in an arroyo, apparently killed by his cartwheeling ATV.
...16) Lies Come Easy
Next book in the Posadas County Mystery Series
"If you haven't yet discovered these wonderful mysteries, you are in for a treat!"—Anne Hillerman, New York Times bestselling author
One blizzardy New Mexico night, Posadas County Deputy Pasquale picks up a toddler abandoned along the shoulder of State 56... And as more disturbing cases pile up, the Sheriff's Department find themselves caught in a dangerous web
...Savvy storytelling infused with a spicy Southwestern setting.
"Not only does Havill offer a melancholy reinterpretation of that grand western myth of the slow-talking, fast-thinking lawman, he also writes crisp, marvelously detailed police procedurals in which a mix of technical know-how and informed common sense gets things done."—Booklist
Bill Gastner is going crazy recuperating from heart surgery. Dreaming of green
...No crime is forgiven, and no mistake overlooked in this new addition to the critically acclaimed Posadas County Mystery series...
When a developer shows up in Posadas County, the locals get nervous. The small town along the southern border of New Mexico has enjoyed a surge in visitors, jobs, and prosperity since rancher Miles Waddell opened an eco-friendly complex. But then the developer buys land just next door, with plans for a project
...A newly minted graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1890, Dr. Thomas Parks heads to the big timber country of Puget Sound to practice trauma medicine. An hour after stepping off the boat he's nearly crushed to death by a less-than-surefooted mule and finds himself a patient rather than a physician. As he convalesces, he discovers that his host, an aging and venerable physician friend of his father's, is running an elaborate
...20) Easy Errors
Next book in the Posadas County Mystery Series
"This is one of the very best entries in a consistently excellent series."—Booklist STARRED review
When County Sheriff Bill Gastner retired from Posadas County, Deputy Robert Torrez rose through ranks of small town law enforcement. But what were Torrez's first days as a rookie officer like?
It's 1986. Undersheriff Bill Gastner is enjoying his usual insomnia
...