Montana Blues

This white-knuckle whodunit from Ring (Arizona Kiss) chronicles the search for a killer from the perspectives of the victim’s identical twin sister and the Black man wrongly accused of the crime. Five years ago, white Montana State University cheerleader Nikki Fontaine was strangled to death in her apartment. Her boyfriend, football star Dawson Koloko, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison after Nikki’s twin, Rose, discovered him unconscious next to Nikki’s body with scratches on his face. Now, Dawson’s attorney has successfully argued that police mishandled DNA evidence and Dawson’s conviction has been overturned. Determined to track down Nikki’s killer, he forms a wobbly alliance with Rose, who’s now married to the local sheriff, and the two uncover evidence that a white supremacist group may have been involved in Nikki’s murder. Ring steadily ratchets up the suspense while developing a surprisingly potent emotional dynamic between his well-drawn leads. John Sandford fans should take a look. (Self-published)