SHOW ME THE GOLD

Another case for a former CIA agent and her gal pals.

Reserve Deputy and former CIA agent Phoenix Smith and her friend and host, Acting Sheriff Annalynn Keyser, are called to help law enforcement officials in a neighboring county contain a gang of bank robbers hiding in a deserted farmhouse. Together with Phoenix’s dropout police dog, Achilles, they surround the house, but at least two of the men escape, and only Achilles’ sharp nose keeps Phoenix from getting blown up in the booby-trapped house. The robbers are members of the Cantree family, locals with a grudge against the county sheriff and a network of friends and family who could be helping them. Since Phoenix killed one of them and wounded another during the escape attempt, she’s sure to be added to their hit list. The gang stole cash but also targeted a safety deposit box filled with gold coins, and the FBI agents suspect Phoenix because, as consultant to a venture capital firm, she has the expertise to sell the gold. Meanwhile, another sleuthing friend, Connie Diamante, who’s directing Oklahoma! for the local community college, asks Phoenix to play the piano for the auditions. One of the kids who’s auditioning pulls a gun but claims it was just a prop to help get him in character. After a video of the incident shows up on YouTube, Phoenix and Connie are shot at in a local restaurant. They’re also presented with a case of elder neglect that involves a Cantree family friend. Although Phoenix would prefer to get on with her work establishing a foundation to assist crime victims, she’s forced to investigate the robbery to get the FBI off her back.

Mulford (Show Me the Deadly Deer, 2014, etc.) confronts her troupe of reluctant crime solvers with plenty of action and a few surprises.