A Mystery Lover's Bookshelf, April 2012

This fine series, set in the Midwest, features a low key protagonist named Cork O’Connor has improved exponentially over time. My favorite book among them all is VERMILLION DRIFT, where all of the elements --- plot, characterization, pacing, and prose --- come together perfectly.   O’Connor is handling security for a mining project which is unpopular with the usual suspects, discovers a mass grave deep inside the mountain. Some of the victims have been shot with Cork’s own gun, which he inherited from his father. His subsequent investigation will change Cork’s life and his perspective of himself forever.