A Deadly Turn

At the start of Booth’s strong third Hank Worth mystery (after 2017’s Another Man’s Ground), Hank, the sheriff of Branson County, Mo., is on patrol one evening when he flags down a car going over the speed limit. Inside the car are six local teenagers. Hank decides to let them off with a stiff warning and a directive to go straight home. Some 20 minutes later, he’s called to the scene of a traffic accident, where he finds “a twisted crush of metal and plastic that had rained bits and pieces all over the roadway.” It’s the car he stopped, and all six teens are dead. While notifying the next of kin, Hank and his deputy discover the corpse of a young man who has been stabbed. Is his death related to the accident? Hank thinks so, but he’s not in charge of the case. The bureaucratic complications that arise over jurisdiction involving the sheriff’s office, the Branson city police, and the Missouri Highway Patrol’s Major Crash Unit add spice to the fascinating and complex plot. Readers will hope Hank has a long career ahead of him. [em]Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Mar.) [/em]