It really took me awhile to pick a book this time – I thought maybe I’d gone into a slump but finally …  half-heartedly maybe …. I picked up a good old crime novel which had been  tempting me a bit.  I need some kind of leisurely reading

I don’t keep a TBR pile – I buy as I go looking at my wish lists, reading group schedules,  new releases, and so on for my options when I need a new book.  I’m always on the lookout for possibilities and stick likely candidates on one of my wish list or I download a sample.  But I don’t bother with the wish list part for Audible’s bona fide sale books – I just get them and try to have a little stash for slow times – Only 1 lonely book waiting for me at the moment.   (Oh!  But there is an Audible sale going on … )

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The Disappeared
by C. J.  Box
2018 / 398 pages
read by David Chandler – 11h 14m
rating:   B+  /  crime series
(#18 in the Joe Picket series)
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Back to the book at hand – (or at ear as the case may be).  This is the 18th book in the Joe Picket series –

Picket is a game warden in Wyoming and in that capacity he comes across a variety of murders and other crimes.

This time it seems a prominent British woman has disappeared on her way home  from an exclusive guest ranch in Wyoming.  She’s single, rich, fairly famous,  very nice looking and she apparently had a completely wonderful time at the ranch, so .   – what could have happened to her to disappear? And she’s been missing for two months now.   The British media gets wind of a juicy story and that gets to the ears of of Wyoming’s  new governor who he calls in Joe Pickett demanding it get resolved pronto.

Meanwhile,  Joe’s buddy Nate has a friend,  a fellow falconer,  who, for some inexplicable reason, is unable to get the specialty permit he needs for his hobby/business.   This doesn’t seem like an urgent matter,  so Joe kind of puts it on a back burner – until the two cases seem to be oddly related.

It’s an okay book –  it heats up slowly.   I’ve not read anything by Box prior and I don’t know why I picked this up except I think I thought it was by CB McKenzie whose novel Bad Country is about desert living and has a similar cover.  That was a fairly good listen.

One thing about some of these series books is the settings are very important –  there are series set in Wyoming, Arizona, upstate Minnesota, Montana and other kind of wilder or more natural places.  That’s done well enough here – not outstanding but it’s feels like Wyoming what with falconry and ranches and all.  .   Another important thing about crime series is the personality of the lead detective(s) and the ongoing relationships he has with other characters.  I can’t say about Joe Pickett because this is the first one I’ve read.

I might have a few others similar to this on my Audible wish list –  Minnesota I know is there.  lol