John A. Flanagan, Storm Peak

Storm Peak

John A. Flanagan

Berkley, Feb 2010, $15.00

ISBN: 9780425235256

In July 2003, Denver police detectives Jesse Parker and Tony Vetano were on a drug bust assignment when a DPD black and white patrol car stopped. All hell broke out, but by the time the bullets stopped flying Tony was dead from one of Jesse's bullets. Exonerated, he quit the force anyway and came home to Steamboat Springs, Colorado where he obtains a ski patrol position.

In Steamboat Springs Routt County Sheriff Lee Torrens needs help with a particularly brutal homicide as she knows she is out of her league. Although well aware of why Jesse quit the police force and personally knowing why he left town several years ago., Lee asks her friend to help with the investigation into the stabbing murder of thirty-four year old Alexander Howell. The former cop and the sheriff work together as more homicides occur and their feelings for one another as teens remain as strong as it did then.

This is an enjoyable police procedural with a simmering romantic subplot that enhances the inquiry, but never intrudes on the serial murder case. Lee is a wonderful dedicated Sheriff while Jesse has battle fatigue stress disorder coping with issues that he knows will never close. Although maniacal serial killers have flooded the market, sub-genre fans will appreciate this strong Rocky Mountains whodunit.

Harriet Klausner