by C. J. Box
First published 2015
Detective Cassie Dewell arrives in Grimstad, North Dakota, where oil money has transformed a forgotten prairie town into a magnet for workers, wealth, and violence. The newly minted deputy sheriff finds herself battling crime waves that accompany the black gold rush. Twelve-year-old Kyle Westergaard delivers papers through streets where pipelines carve up the landscape and temperatures plunge to thirty below. Most people dismiss Kyle as slow, but he harbors ambitious dreams of escaping Grimstad with his alcoholic mother for a better future. During his paper route, Kyle witnesses a car crash that leaves him holding cash and white powder. As gang conflict escalates through the brutal winter, Cassie realizes the investigation may exceed her abilities. The solution emerges from an unexpected source when the undersized boy on the bicycle keeps appearing at crime scenes where he should not be.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, fish-out-of-water, unlikely-hero
Setting: Grimstad, North Dakota
Period: 21st-century
279 pages · Hardcover · Minotaur Books
Content warnings: violence