Steven F. Havill offers a treasure trove of 24 novels that take place in a fictional county in southwestern New Mexico. His faithful following goes back nearly three decades. Posadas County is now efficiently run by Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman, who is married to the only doctor in the county, along with a newly elected sheriff and a small cadre of officers. 

In LESS THAN A MOMENT, a young, wealthy, out-of-state couple buys up a large tract of land next to Posadas County's renowned tourist attraction, NightZone. The local newspaper publishes an interview that causes a buzz. What are their plans? How will it affect NightZone? Even the buyers aren’t certain, but speculation of any development next to the county’s primary source of employment stirs resentment. NightZone is a futuristic planetarium attracting stargazers, bird watchers and hikers from around the world because of its remote location, endless view of the night skies and luxurious accommodations. After the piece runs, someone shoots up the newspaper office, and the two late-working reporters are wounded. The quiet little town is in shock after someone dies, and the Posadas County sheriff’s office is called in.

"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.... Havill has been compared to C. J. Box, who is a favorite of mine; his narratives are the stuff of which Netflix series are made."

Inspired by the Very Large Array (VLA) space-listening discs built in central New Mexico shortly after the Moon Walk, NightZone is set atop a mesa near Socorro in the southwest corner of the state. It employs locals and boasts a gourmet restaurant, an elegant hotel and spa, and guest lecturers. The creator, Miles Waddell, recently built a state-of-the-art tram rail to run visitors from a parking area sequestered below the mesa to protect it from any artificial lighting that would mar the ambiance of total nightfall. The county’s economic future may be at stake.

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. My attempt to locate it on a map came up empty, as it exists strictly on the map of your imagination. 

Had I been following Havill, not only would I have known about NightZone, I would have met Sheriff Bill Gastner, around whom many of the earlier volumes are framed, and Estelle Reyes, who later marries Dr. Francis Guzman and is the current focus of these novels, along with Sheriff Bob Torrez. Gastner, now retired, takes a bow in each succeeding book. Havill has been compared to C. J. Box, who is a favorite of mine; his narratives are the stuff of which Netflix series are made.

My penchant for western, multiculturally-based mysteries dates back to childhood when I attended my sister’s college graduation from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. In the ’70s, we drove our young family to visit my parents in Arizona's Sonoran Desert when I learned that my hero, Tony Hillerman, creator of the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee series, was lecturing on mystery writing at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. The opportunity to hear my sister’s English professor led me to stuff several of his books into my backpack and make the drive to Phoenix. I sat, feverishly taking notes, queued up for my first-ever book signing, and under judgmental fellow eyes unpacked my stash of dog-eared paperbacks. Professor Hillerman not only graciously signed them, he took time to answer my questions. His daughter, fellow author Anne Hillerman, happens to be a fan of Havill’s work. Just saying…

Soon after we moved to Arizona years later, a mystery bookstore called The Poisoned Pen opened in Scottsdale. Thankfully my book-signing manners had improved as I met James Lee Burke, Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, J. A. Jance and so many others. This once-cozy book nook in the heart of Scottsdale has since moved to more spacious quarters to accommodate larger audiences and has become a publishing house for mystery writers who deserve a wider readership. I now search out books published here, leading to discovering lesser known but wonderful authors, often foreign, who focus on regional subjects, ethnic practices and great storylines. They are frequently overlooked by the major publishers but are locally popular. If lucky, they catch the discerning eye of Barbara Peters, who started the bookstore and piloted the publishing house.

After reading LESS THAN A MOMENT, I downloaded HEARTSHOT, Havill’s first Posadas County mystery from 1991. I am glad I did. Only 22 more to go while we are all hunkered down here.