Steven F. Havill – författare

Next book in the Posadas County Mystery Series

Posadas County Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman has a lot on her plate—but when her family is threatened by a criminal underworld, she''ll stop at nothing to protect her own

Gifted fifteen-year-old Francisco Guzman has become an internationally renowned concert pianist, touring the world under the auspices of his music conservatory. That gives his mother, Posadas County Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman, plenty of reason to worry—and that''s magnified when she learns that he''s in Mexico''s crime-ridden Mazatlan for a concert series where he may be the target for scam artists and kidnappers.

Estelle''s worries go from bad to worse when her uncle surfaces in the small town to mend family ties and leaves a trail of corpses in his wake. Meanwhile, escalating events put Sheriff Bobby Torrez in jeopardy—and with a criminal willing to openly attack local law enforcement, the citizens of Posadas County are in incredible danger.

And just when his sage advice might be most useful, former county sheriff and family friend Bill Gastner is injured and out of commission. As the situation on both sides of the border heats up, the inevitable outcome grows more and more deadly.

In Blood Sweep, the next title in Steven F. Havill''s Posadas County Mysteries, Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman''s past will come back to haunt her. Can she keep Posadas County safe from it?

This acclaimed series is:

Good cops have no use for coincidence

When a driver slams his pickup truck—twice—into a tandem bike being ridden by Carlos Guzman and his fiancée, Tasha, in Briones, California, it''s more than a simple hit-and-run; the driver clearly intended to harm them. Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman gets the call with the news of her son''s accident and wastes no time racing to his side. She is greeted by Police Captain Eddie Mitchell, formerly of Posadas County, who allows Estelle to "consult" on the investigation—but only to a point.

While Carlos struggles with critical injuries, an employee at the bike shop where Carlos bought the tandem is found shot dead in a dumpster—the same man who had borrowed the truck that mowed down Carlos and Tasha. The local cops aren''t convinced there''s any connection between the two crimes. Not a believer in coincidence, Estelle pursues every possible angle with a cop''s determination to solve the case, and a mother''s resolve to keep her son safe at any cost.

When a county employee is found shot to death in sun-drenched daylight while sitting in his county road grader, Undersheriff Bill Gastner is faced with puzzling questions. The simplest explanation—that an errant bullet from a careless target shooter’s rifle blew out Larry Zipoli’s brains—is soon discarded as inconsistencies surface. The fatal bullet shows no rifling marks, and investigation shows that the shooter walked directly toward the road grader, in full view of the victim—who did nothing to defend himself.

In addition to the demands of the investigation, Gastner learns that Sheriff Eduardo Salcido has hired a new deputy without discussing the matter with his undersheriff and that the new hire is destined to be the first female road-patrol deputy in the history of Posadas County.

Thus begins Gastner’s relationship with Estelle Reyes, whose shrewd observations shed important light on a crime that reveals all kinds of skeletons lurking in Posadas County closets.

Where there''s fraud, there''s murder.

A newly minted graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1890, Dr. Thomas Parks heads to the big timber country of Puget Sound to practice trauma medicine. An hour after stepping off the boat, he''s nearly crushed to death by a less-than-surefooted mule and finds himself a patient rather than a physician. As he convalesces, he discovers that his host, a venerable physician friend of his father''s, is running an elaborate medical scam, selling worthless concoctions nationwide, with enormous sales.

Besides doing his best to treat patients while he himself hobbles about with one functioning eye, one hand, and one leg, Dr. Thomas must decide whether to expose the old family friend. Things become even more complicated when his host''s daughter, Alvi, falls in love with Thomas, for exposing the scam would destroy her father.

A New Mexico border town reckons with a shocking shooting and a dead developer in the “consistently excellent” police procedural series (Booklist).   When a developer shows up in Posadas County, the locals get nervous. The small town along the southern border of New Mexico has enjoyed a surge in visitors, jobs, and prosperity since rancher Miles Waddell opened an eco-friendly complex. But then the developer buys land just next door, with plans for a project that will threaten the county’s newfound success.   Tension is at an all-time high when someone shoots up the newsroom—and then the developer is found dead at the base of a cliff. Sheriff Bob Torrez and Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman know these bloody events are all too convenient not to be connected. With support from Bill Gastner—an old Western sheriff straight out of the movies—the partners dive into a heated investigation. But as the case gets personal, the two will have to untangle a web of convoluted evidence before the community turns on itself . . . “The Posadas County that Havill has created is so tangible, you feel that if you walked down its streets, you would be greeted by old friends.” —Bookreporter “Less Than A Moment reveals Posadas’ sense of small-town life through the conversations of multiple characters and by rolling them into the narrative, whether they’re related or unrelated to the crimes.” —Albuquerque Journal   “If you haven’t yet discovered these wonderful mysteries, you are in for a treat!” —Anne Hillerman, New York Times-bestselling author of Lost Birds   “Mystery fans who haven’t yet made the trip to Posadas County, consider yourself deprived.” —Kirkus Reviews