Customer Reviews

The Fourth Time Is Murder: A Posadas County Mystery (Posadas County Mysteries)

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Review of The Fourth Time is Murder

I've been a fan of the Posadas County series of police procedurals since 1991's Heartshot, but until this installment, I never felt the same affinity for Undersheriff Guzman as for her predecessor, Sheriff Bill Gastner. In this fifteenth novel in the series, Havill rightly moves the focus from Guzman's family life to her police work. Dr. Francis and the boys are still around, but very much in the background. A more prominent role for Gastner is also welcome.
The Fourth Time is Murder presents three storylines, two woven together seamlessly and one standing alone. Havill leaves one of the storylines open, hopefully to be concluded in the next novel. Another minor storyline involving a Posadas County deputy, is never fully resolved, while the main storyline is brought to a satisfying resolution. The next novel in the series will hopefully pick up where The Fourth Time is Murder left off.
Posadas County, as always, is a palpable presence throughout the novel. Characters who have previously only played background roles are given much larger parts as they help--or hinder-- Guzman's investigation.
For fans of the series, this novel is the best addition in years. To readers looking for a mystery series with a strong sense of place: welcome! Posadas County is the perfect place to spend an evening...or a night...or an early morning, riding the backroads with an insomniac undersheriff.

In my opinion, this is the best Posadas County mystery since the series switched focus with Bill Gastner's retirement from the force. Estelle Reyes-Guzman seems to have hit her stride as the central character; maybe it took the author a few books to perfect his 'female' voice. Good story, strong supporting characters, enough of Padrino to satisfy his fans and a great car chase to end!

It takes the body a long time to heal when you nearly die. For Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman, the violence that nearly killed her happened over a year ago and she still isn't back to normal. She is working again, but she feels it from time to time in ways she never felt it before. The fatality on Regal Pass not only reminds her of how fragile life is but how her body is still not healed.

Psychologically, she isn't healed either. Something the dead man doesn't care about as he lays crumpled in the wreckage of his truck. Hundreds of feet down the mountainside the wreckage is difficult to get to in daylight and late at night with mist and cold closing in the San Cristobal Mountains it is extremely dangerous. Obviously the man is dead and the wreckage has been down the cliff strewn among the rocks and boulders for while.

But, somebody else has been there. It isn't just the fact that various identifying items that should be in the truck aren't there in the shattered hulk or strewn around the area. Amidst the beer cans and debris of what is left of the truck, the victim has part of a shoe print on his hand. Somebody stepped on his hand. Since it wasn't any of the rescuers it means it was either a witness or a murderer.

The latest in the series finds Estelle juggling issues with her family, a national reporter determined to write a profile of her for a woman's magazine, and a murder. The conflict between her role as a parent and her job continues as well as a growing realization that her family is moving towards a different future that may or may not be what she ever wanted. That concept which is growing stronger in every book since Bill Gastner was eased off the main stage is a huge theme here along with the idea that the border, like the vein of life, is as thin ribbon easily crossed by good and evil alike.

Once again, Steven F. Havill brings Posadas County and its people to like in a series that fundamentally changed several novels ago. While it hasn't been the same since Bill Gastner was moved to the role of a secondary character, Estelle Guezman more than holds her own in this novel that delivers a strong storyline, plenty of action, and depth to the read. This simply might be the best book he has written since the switch in the series and I suspect it will be nominated for many awards.


Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2009

I have been a fan of Steven Havill's Posadas County mysteries since the first Bill Gastner title came out. THE FOURTH TIME IS MURDER is one of the best of both series, and definitely the best in the Estelle series. Havill has skillfully created a microcosm of life on the U.S.-Mexico border, a world of its own in fictional Posadas County, New Mexico. In this book, Undersheriff Estelle Reyes Guzman is "on" in nearly every scene, and those scenes are full of action as well as of thoughtful observation. The reader gets to know Estelle better than ever before. Minor characters are as deftly drawn as is Estelle, and former Undersheriff Bill Gastner makes a brief appearance. Highly recommended for readers who like strong local color and realistic psychology.

New Mexico state worker Connie Ulibarri stopped her vehicle on the Regas Pass in the san Cristobel Mountains between old Mexico and Posadas County when she saw the dead deer had a Fish and Game tag. As she went to retrieve the tag, she noticed the truck in the ditch below. With the help of a trucker who stopped to assist her, she climbs down to find the driver dead.

Posadas County Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman leads the investigation that is confusing as the victim died from drowning with a footprint on his hand; apparently someone was at the accident scene and tossed alcohol into the late driver when he was barely alive; ergo cause of death drowning though the John Doe would have died from his injuries soon. As Estelle and her team make inquiries, the clues lead to a Canadian sweepstake that involves long time friends. Other incidents like the accidental death of an illegal and the accidental discharge of a rookie's gun keep Estelle, the squad and their boss County Sheriff Robert Torrez overworked.

The latest Posadas County police procedural is a fabulous tale that contains one major investigation, a minor case, the discharge incident and a dedicated Women's World magazine reporter interviewing the staff and accompanying Estelle on the job. The prime case is clever and eye opening on scams while Gastner makes several mentoring appearances to add to the overall fun of a well written cop investigative thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Steven Havill has been writing these books for about fifteen years now, and he has done it in an extremely entertaining and thoughtful way. When he made the transition from Bill Gastner to mostly Estelle Reyes Guzman, I was at first put off, missing Bill as the narrator. However, Havill has held my interest, and it's just as much fun listening to these as audiobooks as it is reading them, depending on the skill of the narrator.

My gratitude is boundless. You can classify Steven F. Havill as a writer of regional mysteries if you like, but, well, so what? He's in the same class as Joseph Heywood and Tony Hillerman (but only when Hillerman is at his very best. In short, he's at the very top of the field. Like Robert B. Parker (again, only at his best), Michael Connelly, and Robert Crais, Havill gets it absolutely right, from plot to sentence. He's a very rare craftsman and, far more, a writer whose characters have corazon. As a bonus, he knows how to bring a mystery to a close better than any of the above except Heywood. Can't recommend him highly enough.

Another winner by Steven F. Havill! His southwest mysteries, taking place in Posadas county, are always a joy to read. The characters are multi-dimensonal, and it is easy to get wrapped up in their lives. As addictive as a soap, but more realistic.