After losing her law enforcement job following a tumultuous serial killer investigation in Paradise Valley, Cassie Dewell resurfaces as a struggling private detective in C.J. Box’s new crime novel, The Bitterroots.
Hired to examine what appears to be an open and shut case against a creep charged with raping his 15-year-old niece, she ventures into the mountains of western Montana to talk to the local sheriff, review the case file, and interview witnesses. There, she is met with hostility by nearly everyone in town. The tale unfolds in a landscape thick with smoke from forest fires, the gloom serving as an apt metaphor for the evil she encounters.
Box’s characters are well developed, his writing is vivid, the tension runs high, and the plot unfolds at a rapid pace. To read the full text of my Associated Press review, please click here.
