SHADOWS OF DEATH

Officer Frank Flynn (Shadow of the Raven, 2007) feels an uncomfortable affinity for a desert vigilante.

Flynn, whose Bureau of Land Management beat is the Mojave Desert, grimly checks out a murder scene there. A pair of poachers have been shot dead, their guns still in their hands. Nearby are the decomposing remains of slaughtered burros. Frank is admittedly conflicted, as poaching for sport has recently been epidemic in the area. The condescending FBI team of Ellis and Novak push Frank’s buttons when they’re skeptical of his findings, critical of his procedures and dismissive of naturalists as “animal rights terrorists.” But Frank keeps his cool and rightly identifies the killer as someone who’s sending a message and is likely to kill again. The killer, Sundstrand reveals, is Seth Parker, a nearly homeless veteran with a terminal diagnosis and a fervent desire to go out with a bang. Frank deduces that the initials of Parker’s organization, MDG, stand for “Most Dangerous Game,” after the Richard Connell story in which humans become the prey. Proclamations from the obsessed Parker give additional clues to his identity. As speculation simmers amongst a large supporting cast of townspeople, Frank’s romance with reporter Linda Reyes blossoms. She becomes the sounding board for his inner turmoil just as his boss Dave Meecham talks through a fluid list of local suspects and crime theories.

Flynn’s second appearance is a solid procedural resting on the reader’s affinity for Sundstrand’s deepening portrait of the desert community.