Steven F. Havill

Re”. Bill Gastner and Posada County series.

Old, fat, White Bill Gastner returned to his home town after 20 years as a military police officer.  He has worked for the local Sheriff’s office for 20 years and is now Undersheriff of a small New Mexico County on the border of old Mexico. He is a widower with four adult children, three of whom still talk to him.   He is even tempered.  He is a thorought investigator.  His   personal knowledge of the county and multiple generations of many of its residents often permits him to solve cases more quickly.  His status also permits more informal means of solving problems before they spin out of control.  

Young, Hispanic Estelle Reyes moved to Posadas as a high school junior, then came back after graduating from college to join the police force.  She is methodical and has unusually good insight. They make a formidable team.  Gastner learns to let her investigate at her own pace.  Reyes learns what life is like when you can rely on somebody old enough to be your grandfather.

These are police procedurals that move at a slower pace than urban, big city books.  Havill paints a portrait of rural life among people who work for a living.  We get glimpses of life of the proprietor of the Mexican restaurant, the working farmers, editor of the local weekly newspaper, minister of the border church which never locks its doors.