Just as entertaining as the other books in this fast-moving series.
Montana is a land of untamed wilderness and endless sky, and Stone County Sheriff Peter Elliott never fails to take this into account. He is quick to appreciate the good things in his life and slow to overreact, no matter how large or small the trials that come his way. In his experience, most problems can be handled with little more than his authoritative tone, his well-trained German Shepherd, and his trusty Stetson. So Peter is calm when he has to confront a belligerent neighbor hosting a perpetual garage sale and remains calm when that same neighbor’s corpse is found at a local landfill naked, covered in grass, and stuck with a giant fork jammed in his head. Locally known as the fat old toad, Fred Filmore was greedy, lazy, and downright disagreeable, but who would go to the trouble of murdering him and then shuffling his oversized body off to the dump? As it turns out, maybe a few people. And the constant influx of shifting tourists only complicates the investigation. The antagonistic local reporter runs a sensational story that calls Anderson the murder capital of Montana. But that couldn’t be right with Sheriff Elliott at the helm, could it? What starts with the loss of an unpopular resident spirals into destructive suspicions and a web of secrets hiding in plain sight.
Justice Rendered is slightly gloomier in tone but just as entertaining as the other books in this fast-moving series. With its likable residents and their predictable routines, Anderson feels like the sort of town you can’t wait to visit. Whether it’s Deputy Helen’s frustration with her expanding waistline or the department’s regular morning box of local pastries, delightful touches of consistency across the novels make them more appealing with each new addition. One subtle nod to the realism of this fictional town is when fan-favorite Nancy May first discovers the dead man at the landfill. A prickly yet familiar personality, Nancy May is the kind of comically oblivious neighbor we’ve all encountered in life who always causes a ruckus and inevitably lands at the feet of the drama. While the book’s criminal investigation is suspenseful and fun to explore, the real engagement comes from character interactions. For fans of this series, it is a treat to read about new-deputy Birdie bonding over a terrifying situation with intelligent, thoughtful, and underestimated Mary, a regular feature at the local dive bar. Even Peter’s character gets a developmental boost as his brother and their heartbreaking backstory is further incorporated into this novel. Upbeat narration belies some darker themes in Kit Karson’s, Justice Rendered.
