Treasure State, by CJ Box (Minotaur Books/St. Martin's, 2022, 286 pp, $28.99), Book 6 in the series. Review by Skye Anderson
Montana Murder Mystery
CJ Box' Treasure State only gets better with each chapter (in other words, it starts out slowly) as it ties nearly all the many loose ends together. However, you may not want to read this at night, alone in the house.
Yes, there is a Manhattan, Montana, and most of the other towns are very familiar to me, being from northern Idaho. Even the historical facts of copper mining are 'right on.' However, I'm so glad it took place in Montana and not my Idaho, and though the most well-known nickname of the state is Big Sky Country, The Treasure State is also a nickname (which fits in so well with the plot).
Our PI (private investigator), Cassie Dewell and the other characters are not ones the reader can necessarily identify with or want to be but they are real, even the old bag lady who simply walks from one end of town to the other. Cassie lives with her 16-year-old son Ben and her mother, who doesn't get along very well with Cassie but works as her receptionist, at times. Fortunately, Cassie also has an assistant, a PI wanna-be, a 20-something from Wyoming whom Ben has a crush on.
Like many mystery series, Box' weaves in previous characters which only serves to whet your appetite to read the earlier five in the series.
A Doozy of an Opening
The first chapter is a doozy. An overweight and laconic PI, JD Spengler from Florida arrives in Montana and is close to solving his case in the first chapter only to have that chapter end with "JD Spengler had no idea he would never leave this place alive." (p. 7)
And then you find out that Spengler is not the protagonist but it takes several more pages to get to know Cassie Dewell, PI.
All in all, a suspenseful story by an Edgar winning author - with a strikingly beautiful cover.
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