This was my first foray into the Posadas County series, which has been long-running and follows former sheriff Bill Gastner and his friend, Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman. Seems like the rugged and arid land around Posadas County, New Mexico, breeds either no crime or major crime by turns. This time, a PERFECT OPPORTUNITY for vengeance goes badly wrong.

As I didn’t know anyone, I got introduced during the first few chapters. I gather that Bill Gastner was the original protagonist of the series and now he’s retired, a little forgetful, but driving a nifty powered wheelchair. Some former cases are discussed, which is only natural, as not much else happens in Posadas town. The innovator Miles Waddell is building a bird-watching tourism and hospitality venue on former cattle land, and not everyone is delighted. Then the tone changes as a vehicle is found pulled into a ditch and two young men are dead. Johnny Rabke is one, and he had a serious dispute with the other, Arturo Ramirez, who was a Mexican national working as a handyman for various retirees.

Investigations are slow and thorough, giving us a good feel for just how careful even small-town cops need to be about gathering and preserving evidence. Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman does much of the work, with her father Dr Guzman acting as medical examiner. Other folks include Deputy Lydia Thompson and official photographer Linda Pasquale. I’m noticing a shift towards female sheriffs and deputies in many western and southwestern series. While this is welcome, a prolific reader needs to have distinct personalities to follow. To me, Estelle is just doing things by the book, whereas other fictional southwestern officers may be Hispanic or Navajo with their different cultural backgrounds for added interest.

Steven F. Havill has created fifteen previous installments in the series, and PERFECT OPPORTUNITY is as good a place as any to jump in and see how the land lies. I warn that there is much discussion of blood and manner of death, so a cosy mystery it’s not. I like how the threads were pulled together at the end, and will be returning to Posadas County any chance I get.