Pearson, Ridley: Killer Summer

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Killer Summer is the 3rd installment in Ridley Pearson's series featuring sheriff Walt Fleming. (See my review of the first book in the series, Killer Weekend.) Walt is Quantico-trained, an expert tracker, a crack shot, and a very smart law enforcement officer, but he's disappointed his father--an ex-FBI guy--by opting to chase criminals in bucolic Sun Valley, Idaho, instead of chasing some more prestigious position. Still, high-profile trouble seems to find Walt. This time out he suspects that a gang of thieves is planning an elaborate heist in conjunction with a wine auction that's being hosted in Walt's jurisdiction. The prize: three bottles believed to have come from Thomas Jefferson's cellar. At the same time, in a storyline that eventually intersects with the wine heist story, Walt's nephew Kevin gets into trouble with a girl who's vacationing unhappily with her father in Sun Valley.

Start to finish, Killer Summer is a riveting read. I love the main characters: Walt and Kevin are both likable and smart in the face of adversity, which I find appealing. We don't learn much about the criminals Walt's up against--and I suppose I would have liked to know more about them--but we are made to understand that the ringleader is careful and smart at what he does as well. The various strands of Pearson's story are expertly woven together. The writing is crisp. Killer Summer was a book I really didn't want to put down.