COLD TRACKS

A lively first effort that pairs the aching-for-quiet Neskanic (Oregon) National Forest security officer Frank Carver with the much younger widow and fire-dispatch ranger Ginny Trask, who finds the grisly remains of Nino Alvarez, a Christmas-tree plantation worker. As Frank and Ginny track through Nino's life, they find relatives with no green cards; a secret affair of the plantation owner's neurotic, unstable daughter (now pregnant); another murder rigged to look like suicide; and persistent sass from Maureen, a secretary who may have been spotted on an overnight with Ginny's married boss, Len Whittaker, who, unlike most people, seemed to dislike Nino intensely. Meanwhile, there are fires to fight, vehicles to search, pine needles to examine, and a missing photograph to worry about before Ginny and Frank wrap up this saga of blackmail and murder. A promising debut, with interesting scenic detail and an engaging pair of sleuths.