THE RIDDLE MAKER

In the high desert of Nevada, a series of riddles leads a sheriff and an FBI agent on a wild ride through a present informed by a tumultuous past.

There’s a mailbox near Area 51 in Nevada where tourists can mail postcards or leave letters for aliens. Now, Lincoln County Sheriff Porter Beck picks up a riddle someone’s left for him. He solves it quickly, and it leads him to a body in a barrel in the receding waters of Lake Mead, drawing in park rangers, the Las Vegas police, and eventually the FBI. The body belongs to Press Halverson, Beck’s grandfather, who’s been missing since 1975; he was shot in the head and has a picture of Beck’s mother, Delia, in his wallet. Beck and his pregnant fiancée, Charlie Blue Horse, who’s visiting Vegas with him, figure the killer must be a man who’s at least 64 and once knew Delia. Among Beck’s current problems is someone destroying alfalfa fields with crop circles and someone shooting and leaving a bull elk dead. FBI profiler Jett Lowell received a similar riddle seven years ago after her little brother went missing, leaving her guilt-ridden and estranged from her family. Visiting Beck’s office, Jett, who looks tiny and youthful, is surprised that the hyperobservant sheriff recognizes her as a federal agent before she even identifies herself. Beck solves the riddle Jett’s been holding onto to help her find her brother’s body. Returning home, Charlie goes to investigate another elk shooting and is almost killed by a sniper. Another riddle sends them on a search that reveals another death that leads them to unimaginable danger for all.

A superior mystery that manages to be both cerebral and action-packed.