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Eccentric, disarmingly human characters lift Baker's engrossing second mystery featuring Nebraska rancher Kate Fox (after 2016's Stripped Bare). Less than an hour after Kate is sworn in as sheriff of Grand County, a place "where cattle outnumber people by more than 60 to one," she gets a call from a police dispatcher alerting her to a possible death involving a railroad train. At the scene, Kate finds the conductor huddled close to the idling engine in a state of shock; inside the engine cab is the decapitated body of the engineer. When Trey Ridnoir, the patronizing state trooper who arrives soon afterward, declares the death an accident, Kate steps up and shows him evidence that indicates murder. At every turn, Kate is scoffed at and advised to back down and let the state patrol or the former sheriff, Kate's ex-husband, handle the case. Nevertheless, she persists. Direct, practical Kate is the kind of protagonist many readers have been waiting for: she handles the frequent, casual sexism with grace and then gets down to the job at hand. Agent: Marlene Stringer, Stringer Literary. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

In her second outing (after Stripped Bare), Kate Fox, the new sheriff of Grand County, NE, must unravel the mystery of who killed railroad engineer Chad Mills and why. Recently divorced from the county's previous sheriff, Kate faces personal issues such as living once again in her parents' house, meddling siblings, unpleasant encounters with her ex-husband and his pregnant new wife, and some fellow residents who don't believe she is qualified to be sheriff. State patrol officer Trey Ridnoir, working with Kate on this case, also has his doubts about her abilities. He butts heads with her over the evidence and clues until Kate untangles the complicated web of unexplained wealth and betrayal that leads to the real killer: someone Kate has known most all her life. Despite the sometimes confusing plethora of characters, the strong-willed Kate rises to the top. Verdict Set in the Sandhills of western Nebraska, a landscape populated with cattle and windmills, this sophomore effort will appeal to readers who appreciate regional mysteries for their atmosphere.-Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Coll., Mt. Carmel © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A newly minted Nebraska sheriff faces an unexpected challenge when a Burlington Northern/Santa Fe engineer is murdered on his train.When Kate Fox won the election against her ex-husband, Ted Conner, folks around Grand County figured it would be OK. The Fox family had lived in Hodgekiss for generations, and besides, even a girl like Kate ought to be able to handle routine traffic stops. No one, least of all Kate, expected that someone would hang a railroad tie from an overpass so that it would smash into a BNSF locomotive, killing the engineer, Chad Mills. Now Kate's unwilling to hand the case off to state trooper Trey Ridnoir, fearing that her neighbors will think she isn't up to the job they elected her to do. So she and young Ridnoir enter an uneasy alliance. They investigate together even though Kate resents Trey's constant attempts to shield her from the danger she sees as just part of her job. But their alliance is tested when Trey zeroes in on Chad's co-worker Josh Stevens, who seems just a mite too cozy with Chad's wife, Meredith. Kate's gut tells her that Josh, brought up in the Amish-like Black Socks sect, would never commit adultery, much less murder. As Kate's large and loving family swathes her in unhelpful solicitude, urging her to get over Ted and get a life, she grows ever more determined to solve her first official case and prove that she already has one. Baker's follow-up to Stripped Bare (2016) pushes her franchise across the cold prairie landscape as steadily and professionally as a BNSF freight train, leaving readers eager for the next stop. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In her second outing (after Stripped Bare), Kate Fox, the new sheriff of Grand County, NE, must unravel the mystery of who killed railroad engineer Chad Mills and why. Recently divorced from the county's previous sheriff, Kate faces personal issues such as living once again in her parents' house, meddling siblings, unpleasant encounters with her ex-husband and his pregnant new wife, and some fellow residents who don't believe she is qualified to be sheriff. State patrol officer Trey Ridnoir, working with Kate on this case, also has his doubts about her abilities. He butts heads with her over the evidence and clues until Kate untangles the complicated web of unexplained wealth and betrayal that leads to the real killer: someone Kate has known most all her life. Despite the sometimes confusing plethora of characters, the strong-willed Kate rises to the top. Verdict Set in the Sandhills of western Nebraska, a landscape populated with cattle and windmills, this sophomore effort will appeal to readers who appreciate regional mysteries for their atmosphere.—Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Coll., Mt. Carmel (c) Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Eccentric, disarmingly human characters lift Baker's engrossing second mystery featuring Nebraska rancher Kate Fox (after 2016's Stripped Bare). Less than an hour after Kate is sworn in as sheriff of Grand County, a place "where cattle outnumber people by more than 60 to one," she gets a call from a police dispatcher alerting her to a possible death involving a railroad train. At the scene, Kate finds the conductor huddled close to the idling engine in a state of shock; inside the engine cab is the decapitated body of the engineer. When Trey Ridnoir, the patronizing state trooper who arrives soon afterward, declares the death an accident, Kate steps up and shows him evidence that indicates murder. At every turn, Kate is scoffed at and advised to back down and let the state patrol or the former sheriff, Kate's ex-husband, handle the case. Nevertheless, she persists. Direct, practical Kate is the kind of protagonist many readers have been waiting for: she handles the frequent, casual sexism with grace and then gets down to the job at hand. Agent: Marlene Stringer, Stringer Literary. (Oct.)