I really wanted to finish this book, but it is personally too historical for me to hold interest, and I found my mind wandering, and reading and re-reading passages. I tried to press on, but by page 81, decided that quits made more sense. In 1948, Lane (a main character) arrives in New Denver to see her friend Peter, but since he was not around, she wandered to a meadow and met an indigenous man named Tom with a very interesting history of his ancestral lands, which happened to be owned by others, including her friend. I thought it was kind of odd that the book started that way, since the time history starts in 1948, and Peter is NOT her husband, but off the bat in the beginning, she is looking for a MALE friend and ends up talking a lot to a MALE STRANGER who could have been very unfriendly at the least. She also ends up talking to a male storekeeper, whom she knew, but even she felt was odd. The book alludes to the fact that Lane seems attracted to danger, though, as when she had to call her HUSBAND Inspector Darling (the name humor was not lost on me) to let him know that while she was on this big adventure, yakking and basically trespassing, she found a dead body sticking out of shallow grave. And that is where I will stop, because the story line does not go much further than that by page 81. It is not really a spoiler alert, as the back of the book will tell you most of this, except my opinion, and my dim view on such openness in a female for that time period, or even now. If you like lots of history, unbelievable story lines, multiple characters, and/or mystery stories, this may very likely be a book for you to read. ( )

It upsets me that I'm catching up with the author and running out of books in this series. It's consistently great. Consistently satisfies my longing for a simpler time while exploding the very idea that a simpler time ever existed. Very much enjoying spending time with the characters and seeing Ames and Terrell continue to grow. Delighted to see the emergence of some women policing. Saddened/upset by the anti-immigrant and anti-Indigenous actions in this book, and gladdened to see the ways that Lane and Darling confront these terrible and ongoing things. Really, really good. ( )