In the fifth excellent installment of Wortham's historical mystery series, it's the characters, sizzling action sequences, and tiny details that immerse you in the story from first page to last. With Ned out on the road looking for Pepper, other characters back home in Center Springs have to step up to the plate, and they do so in fine style. I was particularly impressed with Deputy Anna Sloan, a dedicated woman in a man's world who has a good eye for the telling detail. I look forward to seeing more of her.

With a runaway child and two cases involving suspicious deaths, there's a lot going on in Dark Places, but it never once gets confusing. Tiny little details catch the reader's eye as the story progresses... a patch of grass, a cat's behavior, insignia on jackets... but the characters bind everything together. There's a very well-disguised cold-blooded killer to be found, as well as a helpful young man who isn't exactly what he appears to be. When your nerves get frazzled over the danger Pepper's put herself into, you get to see Top back in Center Springs, disgusted that he's the only one who has to stay at home while everyone else is taking trips. Top does get to play a part in solving a crime or two from something that he reads, and that just serves to reinforce something I read recently in another mystery: No reading is ever wasted.

From rebellious teenagers to born killers to determined grandmothers to an old woman named Betty singing "O Holy Night," Reavis Wortham has taken us all on another period perfect excursion into the past that proves the strength of family and the need to do what's right, whatever the cost. This is one of my favorite series, and I'd no more miss an installment of it than I'd stop reading. I hope you join me in enjoying these books. It's best to start at the beginning-- The Rock Hole-- because Wortham's wonderful cast of characters grow and change. You won't want to miss a bit of that, I guarantee. ( )