The protagonists of Sheila Simonson’s Latouche County series, following the excellent “Buffalo Bill’s Defunct,” taking place about three months after the conclusion of that book, are back: the county’s chief investigator, Rob Neill, and his girlfriend, head librarian Meg McLean. As the book opens, Rob’s mentor, Sheriff Mack McCormick is contemplating retirement. He and his wife, Beth, have moved out of their long-time home in Klalo, in western Washington State, and into a new McMansion several miles out of town, in Prune Hill, a gorgeous development of six new homes, only partially inhabited as yet, within sight of Mount St. Helens.
When Rob’s cousin, Charlie, a geologist, turns up in town, two things happen in quick succession: Rob finds out that the Prune Hill development is on a site Charlie had classified as Class II, meaning a Landslide Hazard Area, and apparently reclassified as a Class III, meaning approved for residential development, but before Rob can act on the information and investigate further, there is a major landslide, and that entire portion of the mountain falls, destroying anything and anyone in its path.
There are intimations of graft, corruption, and bribery, and there’s no telling where the investigation may lead. The county commissioners, the developer and his investors, and even the county clerk may have been involved; there is even the possibility that Mack himself, a father figure to Rob, may have had something to do with it; how else to explain the fantastic deal he got from the developer on the purchase price of the house?
Although there are a few deaths [whether or not they are murders must be determined], this is primarily a character-driven book. From Rob and Meg, Beth and Mack, Maddie Thomas, principal chief of the Klalos, and her husband, Jack, to the various other inhabitants of the small town, civilian and politicos alike, they are deftly brought to life by Ms. Simonson, who lives in Vancouver, WA. Her love for and appreciation of the beauty of the Pacific NW is made clear to the reader, and some arguments for and against its development are cogently set forth. The book was a fast and a good read.
