Customer Reviews

Before She Dies

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Undersheriff Bill Gastner is comfortable. I'm not sure if he reminds me of my father, my favorite teacher, or myself, but I trust him and can't put him down. I love these quick reads.

Every word I've ever read by Steven F Havill has been both enjoyable and informative. A fabulous writer, regardless of fiction or non-fiction. A must have collection.

Havill is a master. Five stars in all categories: sense of place, plot, interesting people, forward motion, intelligence, and heart. I just finished reading all of his books and feel a sense of loss. Both series are excellent, but Havill really comes into his own with the Posadas County Mysteries featuring Estelle Reyes-Guzman. Like another true master, Joseph Heywood (of Woods Cop fame), Havill knows the dangers of writing about a small local area and successfully avoids them - he never gets cutesy, and he doesn't fall in love with his characters to the extent that he begins to drool over them and forget the reader. Bravo, Mr. Havill, and thank you.

I stumbled across this series quite by accident while hunting for a Joanna Brady mystery in the King County Library System's Overdrive audiobook section. I'm not even sure if I was aware I wasn't checking out another J A Jance series at first, but soon realized that these novels were in a class by themselves, not to say anything disparaging in the least about Ms Jance, another fine author. However, from the first novel in the Bill Gastner series I was hooked. I feel as if the characters in the stories and the fictional residents of the fictional town have become old friends who I look forward to visiting as often as I can. This particular story, Before She Dies, was an excellent example. The writing is honest and straightforward while still allowing the characters the full depth and range of their all too human natures. Gastner is a few years older than I and I appreciate his honest and humorous view of himself, and of his no nonsense compassion and ability to act in very difficult situations. There are no black and white characters here, no good guys and bad guys, just people, sometimes stupid, sometimes just caught up in situations that have spun out of control. And before I end this I must also heartily commend Rusty Nelson, the narrator from Books in Motion, who is as fine a reader as I've ever listened to. As I said earlier, I look forward to continuing with Stevens other books in the same way I look forward to visiting old friends or sinking into a comfortable old chair.