Bitter Recoil

Aging Posadas County Undersheriff Bill Gastner has weathered his quadruple bypass and is taking a rare vacation up in New Mexico's northern mountains. He's escaping meddlesome medical providers who wish he'd reform, but his heart is in staging a reunion with his former detective Estelle Reyes who is working in San Estevan County. Arriving a day early at the Steamboat Rock Campground, his camping plans are interrupted by sirens. Suddenly, Gastner, Reyes, and her new husband, a doctor, reunite, not over dinner, but over the body of a pregnant young woman. At first the detectives assume she was a hit-and-run victim. Then the medical exam reveals she was instead thrown from a moving vehicle after a rape attempt. Gastner's curiosity is piqued-but he's on vacation. Then four more deaths follow and the still-to-be-reckoned-with lawman steps in to stop the rash of murders.... Praise for Bitter Recoil... "The authentic flavor of the New Mexico locale is so real you'll be tempted to check your shoes for fine red dust." -Mystery Scene "Havill delivers an evocative tale of hard lives on the edge of society. His portly detective is a genuine low-key pleasure." -Publishers Weekly Steven F. Havill lives with his wife of 40 years, Kathleen, in Ratón, New Mexico. He is the author of 21 novels set in the American West, taught secondary schools for 25 years, and recently earned an AAS degree in gunsmithing.