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A Discount for Death Review"A Discount For Death" is the second mystery bearing the tagline "A Posadas County Mystery." As long time fans know, with the retirement of Sheriff Bill Gastner, the series has shifted focus and now primarily revolves around Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman and her family. As such, this new series of which this is the second book, reflects not only a change in focus but also a subtle difference in writing style to a more distant view of the characters. While temperament of the new series is also different, this new series not only showcases familiar characters, it also retains the literary flavor of the southern New Mexico region that the author clearly loves.
Opening a little after "Scavengers" left off, Posadas County Undersheriff Guzman is picking up her dry cleaning while in the village of Posadas, New Mexico. As she stands next to her patrol unit preparing to get back inside, she hears the distinctive whine of tires on pavement and engines at high speed. She can hear two vehicles in some sort of chase and knows that somewhere along their route as they draw closer, residents have already called and complained to the village Police Department. She has time to realize that the lead vehicle is a motorcycle with a car in close pursuit and then the unthinkable happens. Undersheriff Guzman is witness to a horrible crash at the end of the street as the motorcycle goes out of control, throwing the rider into the base of a utility pole. Seconds later, she witness the near crash of a Posadas Village patrol car as it slides through the accident scene.
Despite what the misleading jacket copy states, which must have been written by someone who never read this book or the series, Posadas Village isn't really part of Undersheriff Guzman's Department. That fact does not stop her from being able to respond or request help. She does both and realizes that the Patrol car, now stopped, never had its lights or siren running and since they share frequencies, is sure she never heard the officer radio dispatch. The village patrolman, Perry Kenderman, whom she has known for some time, seems uncharacteristically dazed and confused as he stands surveying the wreckage and does nothing to assist the rider who lies crumpled at the base of the utility pole.
The rider died at impact and Undersheriff Guzman wonders why Kenderman is acting so strange. She also wonders when he is initially questioned, why he lies, as she knows that the events he describes leading up to the crash, simply did not happen. He is lying through his teeth and not very good at it. As the investigation begins into what really happened, the District Attorney, Dan Schroeder, drops another bombshell.
In an unrelated matter, he informs her that George Enriquez, about to be indicted in all likelihood by the grand jury for insurance fraud has asked to make a deal. Enriquez told the DA, "I can give you Guzman." Like the Undersheriff, the DA has no idea what he meant and he never showed up for the meeting to explain. The obvious conclusion is that he meant the Undersheriff but she is unable to think of anything that she had to do with him beyond investigating some of his alleged insurance fraud. In fact, she is to be a major witness when the Grand Jury convenes.
When Enriquez is found dead of what was supposed to appear as a self-inflicted gunshot, the eye of suspicion naturally falls on the Undersheriff. While nothing is said to her, the word soon spreads while she tries to work the motorcycle crash case. At the same time, she can't stay away from this new problem and thanks to her sterling reputation is allowed some free reign to work that case as well.
Steven F Havill has always managed to work unconnected and very complicated twin storylines in his novels and this is no exception. While the easy familiarity of the Gastner novels are gone in favor of the stiffer prose reflecting the temperament of the primary character, Undersheriff Guzman, the read is still quite enjoyable. Nothing could replace Gastner, his constant battle against insomnia and his penchant for driving the county at all hours of the night as he ruminated on a case. However, in her own way, Guzman is becoming more and more a major viable figure in her own novels. Undersheriff Guzman ruminates as well in her own way and with the stylistic changes, the author makes it clear that while it may feature many of the same very familiar characters, this is a different series. Despite the changes, which do take some getting used to, this book and new series, is well worth the read.
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