Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Blue Horse in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: July 8, 2025
Summary:
A controversial wild horse round-up in the high desert of Nevada results in two murders and too many suspects for Sheriff Porter Beck to deal with.
A helicopter driving a controversial round-up of wild horses suddenly crashes and the pilot is found to have been shot. Then the person coordinating the round-up for the Bureau of Land Management is savagely murdered, buried up to her neck and then trampled to death by the very same wild horses. And there’s no lack of suspects—with the wild horse advocacy group having sworn to protect the horse At Any Cost! Now the state and federal agencies are showing up looking for answers or at least a scapegoat.
Sheriff Porter Beck has had better days.
Porter Beck’s new girlfriend, Detective Charlie Blue Horse, arrives to help with the investigation, which leads them to Canadian Lithium mining operation near the round-up area that sets off Beck’s mental alarm bells. Brinley, Beck’s sister, is leading a group of troubled kids in a wilderness program, when one of them, Rafa, bolts one night. When Brinley catches up to him, they’re just outside the mine—in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
With his personal life in turmoil, too many suspects and too many secrets, the feds pushing for a quick resolution, and his impetuous (if skilled) sister in the mix, one wrong step could be deadly for Porter Beck.
My thoughts:
This is the 3rd book in the Porter Beck series. I took a chance on this series after seeing rave reviews from a few trusted bookstagram friends and I’m so glad I did because this series has been such a pleasant surprise for me…each book so far has been better than the last and I can only imagine what will happen in the next installment.
I love the way these stories blend mystery, police procedural, crime fiction, and in this case wild horse rounds and lithium mining into his books. Each installment so far has had its own focus and I love that, but it’s that continued character development that really keeps me coming back. Beck’s night blindness is something you don’t see very often in a character and certainly not in someone in Beck’s position. Watching him deal with the progression of this disease has been both heartbreaking as well as encouraging because he isn’t going down without a fight.
I also appreciated the way the author worked the pandemic into this storyline. I realize this isn’t going to work for everyone…it might actually be a turnoff for some…but I feel the author dealt with it in a realistic way.
I have mixed feelings about the way this book ended…in the best way possible. You’ll need to read the book to find out what this cryptic message means. And I need that next book ASAP…assuming there is more coming in the series!?!
Books in this series:
- The Bitter Past
- Shades of Mercy
- The Blue Horse
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