The second thriller in the Jodi Luna game warden series is again based in Rio Trucas County, New Mexico. The rural setting is mountainous and largely unspoiled. Just right for a rich folks’ getaway. The Evans family have built a splendid lodge at BLOOD MOUNTAIN or Sangre Monte. Here, actress Claudia Evans and her teenaged son Sterling come across as two of the politer members of the group on a hunting vacation over winter. Jodi Luna is sent by her boss to escort the family and make sure nobody gets hurt. That won’t be working out so well.

Jodi’s resourceful daughter, Mila, who also featured in the first book Hollow Beasts, accompanies her mom to the staggeringly luxury and serviced hunting lodge. The Evans family want to hold an elk hunt on their six hundred thousand acre ranch, but Adler and Bryce Evans are two grown men behaving like spoilt brats. A local woman named Doña Lavato seems to see the Evanses for what they really are – land-grabbing and money-grabbing – and she has taken to locking gates and strolling with the escort of a pet black bear named Charlie. Sangre Monte is all set to see some real blood spilled at Blood Mountain. 

With all this setup, it seems unnecessary to add the romantic entanglement of young Mila with Sterling, but this does help to show that everyone has loyalties and loves, and if Mila does seem too young for a first boyfriend, she’s smart enough to set boundaries. Naturally, a blizzard arrives, this being winter, and the side effects trap everyone in the area, turning the story into a country house mystery. I recognised a couple of Agatha Christie themes thrown together, but I can’t name the books or I’ll give away plot.

Among the most interesting characters is Doña Lavato, living a self-sufficient lifestyle and quoting scripture instead of making conversation. She may well not be in her right mind any more, as evidenced by a grisly scene. We may be getting asked by author Alisa Lynn Valdes which kind of person we’d prefer to have as a neighbour. Once more, Jodi Luna, previously an academic, identifies with the Latino staff rather than the wealthy, while her older daughter from a former relationship, Ashley Romero, is the sheriff way down the mountain. Readers might do better to start with the first book, but if they don’t care about the background detail, BLOOD MOUNTAIN should be perfectly readable as a standalone. This is a taut and compact thriller, with cold weather and plenty of danger.