In this intriguing small-town murder mystery, the first of her Anderson Chronicles, Karson opens with Peter Elliott's role as sheriff in Anderson, Montana, as he’s forced to settle a clash in the Sapphire Pit, a local tourist attraction, over accusations made by a frantic mother that sapphires are being stolen from her son by the local octogenarian patriarch, David Howard. Things start going haywire from there: Peter is startled awake by a phone call at dawn reporting a body’s been found at a bakery, assumed to be the baker himself, and later, David is found hanging by the spiral staircase in his mansion, a questionable suicide with curious timing.

Anderson is quaint, boasting a rich history as a ranching outpost as well as the occasional hunting ground for gold and silver—and now sapphires, as the Sapphire Pit has grown an influx of outsiders. The crime rate is low, and residents pride themselves on having a "high code of ethics," but for a place where "most disagreements could be solved with a few phone calls from the sheriff’s office," the town is suddenly thrust into a maelstrom of turmoil with murder, missing persons, poisoned pies, disturbing letters, threatening calls, and suspected land disputes. Peter muses in distress, "Every law enforcement officer has those cases. The ones that hit them in the gut, and the heart, and mess with their heads."

Karson introduces—albeit overwhelmingly in the first chapter—a broad set of characters, and narrowing down the suspects becomes harrowingly difficult as the story progresses. Though the emotional investment in Karson’s characters feels minimal, the unresolved case of Peter's murdered parents and the story’s international intrigue (following the involvement of Russian mafias and land ownerships) create high-stakes power struggles that surpass the typical concerns of a small community, enough to entice readers to stick around for the next treat in the series.

Takeaway: Intriguing whodunnit mixed with politics and mafia crimes.

Comparable Titles: Dennis Lehane's Mystic River, Tana French's In the Woods.

Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-