MYSTERY

The Right Side of Wrong: A Red River Mystery

Poisoned Pen. Jul. 2013. 308p. ISBN 9781464201462. $24.95; pap. ISBN 9781464201486. $14.95. M
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OrangeReviewStarAn ambush by unknown assailants almost kills Constable Cody Parker one winter night in his rural east Texas district, but he is rescued by Tom Bell, a mysterious older stranger who exudes a lawman's confidence. Fast-forward a few months, and Cody is healing, but a crime wave has hit Red River. The year is 1966, and a series of incidents indicate that the burgeoning marijuana trade is looking for a toehold upstate. A local who stole a bag of dope is killed. Eager to catch the killers, Cody chases them in a foolhardy drive to a more treacherous river, the Rio Grande, and Tom may need to rescue him again.
VERDICT Wortham's third entry in his addictive Texas procedural set in the 1960s (after Burrows and The Rock Hole) is a deceptively meandering tale of family and country life bookended by a dramatic opening and conclusion. C.J. Box fans would like this title; for the Texas storyteller frame, pair it up with Milton T. Burton (see Series Lineup below).
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