Reviewed By: Ric Brandt - RAM
The Big Thaw
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Donald Harstad
Class/Genre: Mystery Police Procedural
Series: Carl Houseman # 3
It was the kind of night most people would throw on another blanket and maybe let the dog in the bed. Then Deputy Carl Houseman isn’t most people. Two on duty fellow deputies are in hot pursuit on an unidentified vehicle and they are headed his way.
Before the night is over he will have a not so smart getaway driver in custody, a string of farm burglaries solved by confession and a double homicide of the burglars in the supposedly vacant home of one the counties more successful and outspoken farmers. His former chief deputy will show up from the State Police and they won’t agree on the prime suspect. His luck is just beginning to get good.
Before the plot unravels Nations County will warm up more than just the weather. They will plagued by an attorney turned sniper in the grain elevator, a FBI deep cover special operations group and the counties largest single asset, the floating casino “The Colonel Beauregard”, will be under siege from a cunning domestic terrorist in it for the money.
In The Big Thaw, Donald Harstad’s latest in the Carl Houseman Series takes us through the unraveling crime spree from Deputy Houseman’s first person perspective. The plot unfolds with all the frustration and tension of the County Deputy dealing with outside assistance from the State Police, the fact his boss and friend is an elected official, and a federal task force on the trail of a retired Army Colonel who fancies himself a world leader. He does it with a nice touch of humor and a “you should have been there” style as he builds the excitement to the final show down in the Iowa snow.
If you like a good police procedural, without the NYPD or LAPD big city story line, pick this one up and spend a evening of enjoyable reading with Deputy Houseman.
Ric Brandt - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Ric Brandt - RAM
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