Prolonged Exposure

Fine storytelling married to a spicy Southwestern setting marks the latest Bill Gastner mystery (following Privileged to Kill, 1997). Gastner, undersheriff in New Mexico's Posadas County, is recuperating from heart surgery at his daughter's Michigan home, but he can't wait to get back home to the land of green-chili burritos and real sunshine. When his chief of detectives, Estelle Reyes-Guzman, calls to tell him that his home has been burglarized, he moves up his departure date and heads home. The action swirls around Gastner like leaves in a high wind. First the burglary: probably kids, but they've managed to steal precious memories along with several guns he had locked up. Then an elderly neighbor, Florencio Apodaca, has mistaken a piece of Gastner's land for his own and buried his wife on it. And finally, a young boy camping in the nearby hills with his parents has managed to disappear, and Posadas County officials are coordinating a massive search for him. As Gastner, his daughter, Camille, and his colleagues all begin to adapt to his physical limitations, Gastner remains a solid center, using his knowledge and experience to good effect as the various cases of burglary, kidnapping and murder play out. (Apr.)