#55: Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

A hard-drinking Texas Ranger, on suspension after a racially charged standoff, heads to a small Texas town to investigate two murders on his own--one of a black man passing through and one of a white local waitress--in Attica Locke's Bluebird, Bluebird.

Locke is a writer and producer for the TV show Empire but is also a solid fiction writer; this thriller cooks right along, with strong characters to bolster the story.

What makes Bluebird, Bluebird a cut above contemporary crime writing is drawing a vivid portrait of race relations, as well as a fully realized characterization of rural Texas (Locke is from Houston).

Locke has a sequel to this one coming out, and I am eager to read more from her.

I listened to this in a good audiobook read on loan from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library in New Castle, Indiana. 

#54: The Tuscon Conspiracy by Matt Chisholm

Joe Blade is on special assignment for the governor of the Arizona Territory to root out some bad men, but when the governor's evil twin (!) gets the upper hand mayhem is unleashed in Matt Chisholm's The Tuscon Conspriracy.

Chisholm was steadily prolific British writer Peter Watts, whose McAllister series of hard-boiled westerns I have really enjoyed.  Blade is another series character whose adventures rely more on high adventure, and seem less grim and gritty than McAllister's. 

My taste runs more to the former, but lots of action here keeps this one agreeable.

I bought this for my beloved Kindle from Piccadilly Publishing.