Publisher, Books in Motion (2004)

"Not only does Havill offer a melancholy reinterpretation of the grand western myth of the slow-talking, fast-thinking lawman, he also writes crisp, marvelously detailed police procedurals with a mix of technical know-how, and informed common sense to get things done." –Booklist

Sheriff Martin Holman of the Posadas County Sheriff's Department didn't like flying. Much less at night, with bad weather. So why he took a plane ride over a nearby mesa under those dangerous conditions is a question as disturbing as why somebody shot the pilot dead from the ground- causing the plane to crash.

Under Sheriff Bill Gastner, a sixty-something warhorse, just months away from retirement, now has a murder on his hands. The only possible lead is a roll of film and with it Gastner is determined to find out what the late Sheriff Holman was up to. Following his sharp instincts and a tenacity born of long years as a cop, he uncovers a scheme of illegal doings and nasty buried secrets. Unfortunately, it could make his biggest case his last.