by C. J. Box
Part of Joe Pickett, book 6
First published 2006
Game warden Joe Pickett faces a puzzling case when Opal Scarlett, a powerful matriarch with considerable wealth, disappears without a trace. Joe suspects her sons killed her for money. The family dynamics point to greed as the obvious motive. But the investigation takes a dangerous turn when Joe becomes the target of increasingly violent pranks. Someone wants to hurt him badly. The attacks make Joe question his initial theory about Opal's fate. He realizes these incidents might connect to something from his own history rather than the missing woman. Joe must figure out who wants revenge against him while still searching for answers about Opal Scarlett's disappearance. The case forces Joe to confront mistakes from his past that someone refuses to forget.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: United States
Period: 21st-century
224 pages · Hardcover · Putnam Pub Group