A gritty-as-a-west-Texas-prairie murder mystery, Ben Rehder's tale is more spicy gumbo than cowboy chili, stirring a Nordic blonde eco-warrior unafraid to use her feminine wiles, a big city mafioso in witness protection trying to muscle in on a home-grown business, and a girth-challenged U.S. Marshal in love with the mobster's Hispanic housekeeper into the pot with local Blanco County LEOS and locos. I didn't read the first in the series, but that's okay. Bone Dry was a quick, entertaining read with enough twists to keep you flipping the pages to the end of the trail. ( )

Four stars for what it is, a light hearted murder mystery that kept me interested in the characters and the story. A fun read. ( )

This is the second of Rehder's Blanco County novels. The main character is John Marlin, game warden. The setting is Blanco County in Central Texas (just a few miles west of Austin for those of you who don't know where it is). It's prime deer-hunting country, and the two funniest characters in the books are beer-swilling redneck poachers who are always out for a fast buck (both the greenback kind and the kind with antlers).

Rehder's books are very much in the Carl Hiaasen vein. Seriously warped and lots of fun to read. If you like Hiaasen, I think you'll like Rehder too. I liked his first book (Buck Fever), but I think this one's even better.

You can read the first chapter of both books here:
http://www.benrehder.com ( )