Frederick Ramsay Buffalo Mountain

Buffalo Mountain

Frederick Ramsay

Poisoned Pen Press, Aug 2007, $24.95

ISBN: 1590583698

Picketsville, Virginia Deputy Sheriff Whaite Billingsley finds a body on the nearby icy forests; the driver's license on the dead man was issued to Randal Harris. Since the victim is part of the orneriest bone cruel family living in the most isolated backwater area of Buffalo Mountain, Whaite assumes a feud of sorts.

However, when Whaite's supervisor sheriff Ike Schwartz sees the corpse, he knows the victim is not a Harris, but instead is missing former KGB spy Alexei Kamarov. Using his past contacts as a CIA Agent, Ike contacts government operative Charlie Garland while pursuing the case as a routine homicide starting with sending Whaite to do field inquires and directing Sam Ryder to conduct web searches.

In his third Shenandoah Valley police procedural ( see SECRETS and ARTSCAPE), Ike's behavior seems suspect as he knows better than to tell his subordinates that this whodunit is part of a blacks ops espionage encounter, but does so. The mystery is entertaining as Ike and his crew meets a cast of characters from generations living on the Buffalo Mountain, Russians who are out of place here (Brooklyn is more apropos), and CIA operatives trying to blend in. Although Ike's out of character behavior appears wrong as if he is bragging about war stories, fans of the series will enjoy the case of the former Soviet spy turned dead hillbilly family member.

Harriet Klausner