CONVENIENT DISPOSAL: A Posadas County Mystery

Homophobia, politics and perilous teenage rivalries make for an absorbing smalltown procedural, Havill's 12th novel in his Posadas County series. When Carmen Acosta, a middle-school tough girl, is severely beaten and stabbed in the ear with a hat pin, her brutalization may or may not have something to do with the disappearance of her neighbor Kevin Ziegler, the county manager, an honest and effective administrator who is keeping a few secrets from his constituents. The smell of cigarettes and liquor in the health-conscious Ziegler's truck lead Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman to a thrilling, bullet-riddled climax, a startling but artful departure from the novel's unhurried, Southwestern pace. Reyes-Guzman is a tough but tender cop, and Havill writes deftly and sensitively about both her work persona and home life, which provides a gentle, amusing counterpoint to the violence. Longtime readers of the series will be happy to see that Havill's retired protagonist, Sheriff Bill Gaston, is still on the periphery, but the undersheriff has proved herself a worthy successor in this third novel since Havill turned the spotlight on her; she's young, smart and dedicated, and she has a nose for solving crimes. Of course, the real protagonist is Posadas County, a troubled but endearing locale that readers will want to visit time and again. Agent, Ruth Cohen. (Nov. 24)