Why the Rock Falls
The Falls Mysteries
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Danger lurks in the wilderness of the Rockies.
After a dinner-party clash between entrenched oil interests and liberal Hollywood insiders, only Michael and Tyrone, the two children at the disastrous event, remain friends. But soon one dinner guest dinner guest is dead and two more are missing in the Alberta wilds.
As Jan Brenner comforts the newly-bereaved Michael, Lacey McCrae infiltrates the Caine oil dynasty to learn which of Tyrone’s older half-brothers and their scheming mothers most want him gone. With the search for the missing heading into its third night, Lacey uncovers a massive hole in the Caine ranch’s security network as well as evidence of previous attacks on Tyrone. Then Jan discovers a long-buried connection between the two families that threatens Michael, too.
As thunderstorms roll over the vast limestone cliffs of the Ghost Wilderness, danger stalks Michael, Tyrone, and the women who struggle to keep them safe.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Barnard's so-so third mystery set in the Canadian Rockies (after 2019's Where the Ice Falls) finds former Mountie Lacey McCrae studying to be a PI and taking on security work to get references. Her latest assignment is working for Jake Wyman, the owner of an oil company that's been subject to vandalism. Hollywood director Mylo Matheson arrives to shoot a film in the hamlet near Wyman's home, along with his latest wife, Kitrin Devine, memorably described as "kind of a heroin-chic version of that woman in the pearl-earring movie." Kitrin is in both bad physical and mental condition, and drowns in the swimming machine at the home she and Matheson have rented. The fatality appears accidental, but Lacey, who witnessed Mylo being unfaithful to his wife, suspects foul play, which is confirmed when an autopsy reveals bruising and a skull fracture. The methodical investigation offers few surprises, and Barnard doesn't give Lacey depth, despite her complicated emotional life. Readers already invested in the series are most likely to appreciate this one.
