Author: Lee Christine
Rating: 5-Stars
Third in the Great Detective Pierce Ryder Series
Dead Horse Gap is the third book in the Detective Pierce Ryder series by Lee Christine, following Charlotte Pass and Crackenback. All take place in winter in Australia’s Snowy Mountains, adding additional challenges to solving crimes. Snow makes things tougher. Clues get covered up quickly, possibly lost forever. High-speed chases must slow down due to ice and snow. And escape routes for criminals using skis or snowshoes provide options otherwise not available in other crime thrillers. I love the Snowy Mountains setting in winter and the characters of every book in the series. Dead Horse Gap is no exception.
The Story
A small plane lands at a small, privately run airport in the Snowy Mountains in the middle of the night. No lights, and the pilot considers himself a bit of a cowboy, but familiar with the landing strip and confident he can easily land the plane. Unfortunately, as the pilot brings his plane to touch down, he sees a large tractor has been left on the airstrip which he cannot avoid. He, his plane and the tractor all go up in flames. Initially thought to have been an accident, it is apparent he was murdered. As the story unfolds, the number of possible suspects grows.
Who Done it?
As Detective Pierce Ryder and his team are uncovering clues, we find out there is so much more going on in the story. There is a large family property development of which the dead pilot is part of the trust who will benefit from their selling the land. Had a family member killed their brother? Or was it the council member and member of the previous family that owned the development, trying to get it back? Or did the pilot’s past dealing drugs finally catch up with him? Is his murder related to another murder that one of Ryder’s team, Nerida Sterling, is working undercover to solve? Join the intrigue as the story unfolds and one after another suspect is removed from the list until we find out who the murderer really is!
The Story is About So Much More
What I love about the story is the additional tension that comes from the personal relationships among Ryder’s team and their personal relationships with other characters in the book. The secondary characters play large roles in creating conflict and their part in solving the crime.
Ryder is about to give leave his detective role to become a beat cop in small-town Australia. He only has eight weeks to go before joining his love partner as she moves to take over the family farm, leaving her love for skiing and the Snowy Mountains behind. Ryder is mentoring and pleased with his second, ‘Daisy’ Flowers, and how fast he has developed. Will Daisy take over Ryder’s lead detective role, or accept an alternative job offer at much higher pay? And is the newbie, Nerida Sterling, who is undercover, able to develop fully into a great detective without making a mistake or getting killed? The team is doing what they can to solve this and other cases before Ryder leaves town.
Magical Settings
I fell in love with the Alpine huts that are in several scenes. Their history and why they exist is fascinating. I am now more curious than ever to visit the Snowy Mountains and check out the huts. I would love to spend a few days living in one. I also plan to visit Khoncoban, the small town where most of the action takes place. Lee Christine brings her settings to life and makes her readers to want to visit the settings and become part of the story! Dead Horse Gap and the previous books in the series should get a royalty from Tourism Australia for their role in bringing visitors into the story’s settings!
What Happens Next?
What I loved most about Dead Horse Gap was how it opens up the many possibilities for where the fourth book in the series will lead us. I was wondering what the next book will involve before I finished this one! Will the next story still involve Pierce Ryder but in his new role as a beat cop in the bush? Will Flowers stay or leave? Will Nerida Sterling develop into the detective Ryder hopes she will? And where will the budding relationship of Flowers and Sterling take them?
And both Flowers and Sterling have developed into main characters of their own. Will we be seeing their own series of books coming soon?
A Highly Recommended Read
I loved the twists and turns Dead Horse Gaps takes before we finally resolve who killed the pilot. Lee Christie weaves a brilliant story cleverly to its conclusion. I highly recommend reading this book as well as the other two, Charlotte Pass and Crackenback in this series. While the books stand on their own, I suggest reading them in the order published. They are all great reads.
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If you liked this review, check out my other book reviews for highly recommended reads on my author Blog.
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