To the Bone

I love these books and can’t wait to get the next one. I was pleasantly surprised to see the hero in this one David Wolf did not get injured. Now I am in hopes Carson will at least let him have a chance at some peace and a good relationship with both his son and a romantic partner. The characters are becoming well developed and seem to be people I would like being around. Please keep up the good work I like to dive into books that hold my interest and have a nice mystery. With Carson’s books I appreciate the clean story line and the minimum of bad language and long tedious sexual relationships. So many pages filled with graphic sex means the writer has nothing to say and can’t add to the story line. Jeff Carson’s books leave all that stuff out because he does have a a lot to say. This one was a little too short. Sonow I have to wait for the next one. Thanks for a really good book Mr. Carson.

“To the Bone” was a multi-layered novel. The police procedural/mystery wasn’t terribly suspenseful or rapidly moving, but the author invested a lot into the main characters and their relationships. David Wolf once a sheriff of a smaller county is now a detective after his former county was joined to another. He and his son, Jack are still getting back on their feet after the loss of his wife. When Jack’s girlfriend’s father is shot, Wolf is in charge of finding the culprit. A student in a local archeological dig disappears and other students become suspect in an illegal procurement and sale of dinosaur bones off a protected site. Wolf’s sensitivity to others, bring out nuances of individual struggles and the reader is drawn into the inner workings of this small community surrounding Wolf and how they are influenced by each other. The reader is drawn into the microcosm of characters and unite with Wolf as he evaluates and disregards one suspect following another. The plot was complex with sufficient red herrings to hold your interest, although I read it over the course of a week, rather than a single sitting as is my usual approach, the holidays may have had a bit of influence in that regard.

This book takes somewhat of a different path than the previous ones. The middle-man conducting a sale of dinosaur bones is murdered and the bones simply disappear. Not only is he a friend, his daughter is dating Wolf’s son, Jack. Wolf opens an investigation, but soon realizes he’s going to have to go to the source to discover what happened. He leaves his deputy team behind to conduct a thorough investigation on their end while he travels to the dig site to get more information and maybe find the killer.

This book more low key than the previous six, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t suspenseful. As always, the author keeps his cards close to his chest and keeps the reader guessing right up to the very end.

Book 7 or possibly 8 if you count the short story that introduced the reader to the characters. This book takes a strange twist away from all that has gone on before. The scene is only a short time after the conclusion of book 6 yet seems to have gone years forward in time. The protagonist’s son will be remembered as a young child having trouble coping with his losses but now is on the verge of becoming a man. The protagonist has a new job and we are really left wondering why as it applies to the story line. The plot of the story is a bit of a stretch and the investigation looses a lot of the intrigue that past stories have provided the reader. Perhaps the biggest mystery of all is why a large prosperous county in Colorado would want to annex a small broke county into it’s folds and then move it’s seat of power into a new multi-million dollar facility in the middle of the smaller poverty stricken county. Perhaps future books will explain this. This is a well written book that is still interesting to read but has taken a step back from the earlier stories. Do not miss this story because book 8 is on the way.

David Wolf now works for SluiceByron County Sheriffs Department (SBCSD) as Chief Detective. His son, Jack, is living with him and he has adopted a retired police dog named Jet.

When Jack’s girlfriend, Cassidy Frost, discovers her father’s body, she calls David Wolf… The Frost family wants Wolf to catch the murderer and “bring them justice”… Ryan Frost was a man well known in the “ancient fossils trade circles” and had made a one million dollars sale prior to his death… Wolf gets help from Jet and Sheriff Shumway of Windfield County chasing down the clues…

This book goes from Rocky Point to Winfield County, where Ryan Frost had a secret dig site. The storyline is interesting and the reader is invited to follow the clues and develop new leads with Wolf and Shumway. As the bodies pile up, they will have to work fast so they are not the next victims…

I really enjoy reading the books in this series. They are full of twists, turns and surprises. I never figure out the whodunnit before the culprit is revealed. These are really good suspense thrillers!

AfterThoughts: I have read about the Dinosaur Ridge, Colorado dig sites (east of Denver) and the dinosaur species Allosaurus. I could not help but wonder if this is the area Mr. Carson was writing about…
Typos/Errors kept this book from being a five star review (examples: “he shivered and blinked the thought out of his mind.” … “I don think thats necessary at all.” … “…bending over the seat to pet Jack” the dog’s name is Jet, Jack is Wolf’s son).

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