The first book in the Colinas County Mystery series has a lot of work to do; we need to be introduced to the place, characters and even the times. A QUIET LITTLE TOWN is set during the Eisenhower era, when the Dust Bowl is driving farmers off the overworked land, and Elvis is playing good- sized concerts.

Sheriff Hutch Joyner of his adopted town, Colinas, handles small crimes and petty infringements; graffiti, kids drinking, and the rest. But two lads find a dead body down in the old quarry outside town, and come racing to tell the sheriff at a festival. Newspaper reporter and publisher Ruth Hartnett turns up with her trusty Leica, persuading the sheriff that photos of the presumed crime scene may help his investigation.

Sonny Guthrie wasn’t dead by accident, is the verdict of the medical examiner. Someone wanted to make sure he stayed that way. The Guthries have money and a swanky home with horses and a pool. As often happens, money was made by building, but Guthrie didn’t always pay his subcontractors, leaving grudges. Or could the killer have an even more personal motive?

Meanwhile, we also follow Ruth as she fields advertising requests and minor stories about weddings, while trying to help resolve the burning issue of the day. Her husband was killed during World War II, and her widowed state makes it harder to supervise her thirteen-year-old son, Henry. The town biddies keep trying to push her together with the widowed sheriff, who seems a decent man. Neither of them is in any hurry, but they do seem to be starting a relationship.

This 1956 historical mystery makes clever use of the lack of modern devices and employs music artists to anchor us firmly in the fifties. While city crime divisions may have had more resources, the rural Texas town sheriff’s office has minimal staff and equipment, but assembles the best tools of the day. We see the upsides and downsides of Colinas, where everyone knows your business, and outsiders are resented, but the good folks gather to celebrate anytime they can, because that is what makes life worth living. Dorothy Love has penned several Christian historical romances and YA books, with A QUIET LITTLE TOWN her first mystery. Colinas is not so quiet, and we are promised a second instalment of Ruth Hartnett and Sheriff Joyner’s story. I’ll look forward to the read.