'Booklist' checks in on 'Hang Fire'

Here's the advance notice on 'Hang Fire' from Booklist, the reviewing arm of the American Library Association. Not too shabby, and a hopeful beginning to the review season.

Advanced Review – Uncorrected Proof   Issue: March 1, 2013

Hang Fire.   Kisor, Henry (Author)   Apr 2013. 246 p. Five Star, hardcover, $25.95. (9781432826857).

Porcupine County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is glad to have Revolutionary War reenactors for a week. Any outside money in the economically depressed area can’t hurt. But when one of the participants is killed by a shot from an antique muzzle-loader, Sheriff Steve Martinez and his already undermanned staff are obligated to investigate. They conclude that the death was a tragic accident. On the other hand, it turns out that the dead woman’s camp persona was “prostitute,” and she had numerous customers in the camp. Over the next few months, Martinez notices a number of “accidental” deaths involving antique muzzle-loaders in the Upper Midwest. Martinez’s law-enforcement instincts aren’t amenable to coincidence, so he begins his own investigation, quickly discovering that he is both hunter and prey. This is the fourth Steve Martinez mystery from Kisor, former books editor of the Chicago Sun-Times. His series mines the same territory as Bill Crider’s small-town crime series featuring Dan Rhodes, who, like Martinez, is a thoroughly engaging protagonist. In both series, personal rivalries, quirky personalities, and big-fish/small-pond distractions form a fascinating undercarriage for cleverly built mysteries.

— Wes Lukowsky