Fatal Divisions

November 9, 2020
Booth’s fine fourth mystery featuring Branson, Mo., sheriff Hank Worth (after 2019’s A Deadly Turn) finds Hank badly in need of a break from routine. His aunt provides the spark he needs when she asks him to accompany her to Columbia, Mo., to look into the disappearance of her husband’s secretary. He agrees, and leaves Chief Deputy Sheila Turley in charge during his absence. While performing a wellness check at the home of elderly Clyde Timmons, Sheila finds Clyde battered to death. In the midst of the subsequent investigation, the majority of her deputies stage a sick out, protesting her reduction of overtime. Meanwhile in Columbia, Hank, who has no authority there as a police officer, tries to keep his inquiries under the radar, but he soon realizes that the missing secretary is just the tip of the iceberg, and he has to deal with a crime that could tear his family apart. Booth skillfully combines police procedural elements with a sharp focus on the families and professional lives of her protagonists. This superior regional series reliably entertains. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

October 15, 2020
A Missouri sheriff seeking peace meets murder instead. Everyone who cares for Sheriff Hank Worth wants him to take a break since he still feels guilty over the deaths of six teens killed in a car accident in A Deadly Turn (2019). He finally agrees to leave Branson and visit his college roommate, Jerry, in Columbia, mainly because his wife's Aunt Fin, who also lives there, has secretly asked for his help. Aunt Fin fears that her husband, Lew, has something to do with the disappearance of his secretary, Tina Hardy. Fin is also worried about Lew's business, Closeout Castle, which has been crippled by competition from internet sales, but Lew refuses to confide in her. Back in Branson, Hank's deputy, Sheila, struggles to handle a sickout of personnel who are annoyed by her cutting overtime. Then deputy Sam Karnes finds an elderly man beaten to death, adding to Sheila's problems. Clyde Timmons was a quiet widower whose main interest was playing bocce with his friends. Most of Sheila's staff refuses to come to work, but she soldiers on, unwilling to ruin Hank's break. Meanwhile, Hank has found plenty wrong with Lew's business. When another murder back in Branson brings the two cases together, Hank returns home, not at all pleased to have been kept in the dark. A pleasing procedural with thoughtful characters and enough plot twists to keep you guessing.

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Starred review from January 1, 2021

Branson County Sheriff Hank Worth has not yet gotten over the car accident that killed six teenagers in A Deadly Turn, so his wife, Maggie, does an intervention. He agrees to go to Columbia, MO, to visit his college roommate, but he has an ulterior motive. Maggie's Aunt Fin suspects her husband in the disappearance of his secretary, and Hank agrees to investigate the business. While he's gone, Chief Deputy Sheila Turley reorganizes the shift work, an action that causes an insurrection among the deputies. At the same time, she and Deputy Sam Karnes have a murder on their hands, a widower whose few friends are men who play bocce with him. When Hank returns from Columbia, the two cases climax on the same night that deputies have called a sick-out. It's a motley crew that handles the mess and cleanup of the cases. VERDICT Fans of police procedurals will appreciate the skillful, character-driven story that culminates in a fascinating conclusion to multiple cases. Readers of Steven F. Havill's "Posadas County" mysteries may want to try this series.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2021
In the fourth Hank Worth novel, the Branson, MO, sheriff is having a very hard time coming to terms with the tragic events detailed in A Deadly Turn (2019). Hoping a change of scenery might help, he heads out of town to visit a friend, but his trip turns into the investigation of a missing man. Meanwhile, back home, Hank's chief deputy, series regular Sheila Turley, is in charge; but her handling of a murder investigation, in addition to some reforms she's implemented, meets with mixed responses. Booth skillfully juggles two stories, punctuating the novel with a series of minor cliff-hangers to keep us interested in one story when she switches to the other. The book is more episodic than previous entries in the series, but it is no less compelling. Booth, a former crime reporter, has a strong prose style: it really feels like she is writing about real people and events.

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