Muller, Marcia – CAPE PERDIDO

[LJ Roberts]

CAPE PERDIDO (Amateur Sleuth-Northern Calif-Cont) – VG Muller, Marcia – Standalone
Mysterious Press, 2005-
Hardcover

Cape Perdido is a small town in Northern California which has a clear, cold water river held in Public Trust. The town's main industry once was lumber, but when Timothy McNear closed the mill, tourism became the income source. Now a group wants to siphon off a large percentage of Perdido's water every year to ship to Southern California. To combat this, the town has brought in ecologists and environmentalist Joseph Openshaw, a native of Perdido. But the strife leads to a murder and awakens secrets from the past.

This is a true ensemble cast with each chapter focused on one of the four main characters, each a native of the town. Although they are interesting, it's one of the secondary characters, Jessie Domingo, a young environmentalist from New York, who really captured my interest. The story is well written and involving with good suspense at the end. I read it straight through in one evening. Muller really knows how to tell a story.