Jo Wyatt is a town native and a second-generation member of the local police force. She’s recently separated and trying to get ahead in a male-dominated field. Wyatt has a keen sense of the history of town, including who are the important people in town and the local college.
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The story opens with Wyatt arriving at the scene of an apparent suicide of a college student. A classmate, Quinn, discovered the body. This death sends a ripple through the community, especially because Tye, the deceased, was a well-known video game creator. Quinn is especially hit hard because the final game design her group, including Tye, was working on is missing. She needs it so she can graduate and leave the winter weather of Echo Valley.
Complicating the case, Quinn is getting threatening emails because of her success in the gaming field. This is another predominantly male field where females are subjected to all forms of harassment. While Wyatt can commiserate with her, Quinn is hard to like, and it takes some time for Wyatt to realize that the threats are real. The emails are hard to trace and Wyatt’s internet sleuthing skills are almost nonexistent.
While Wyatt and her partner Squint follow leads, the “accidental” body count climbs. As the trail twists and turns, the final truth shakes the whole community.
Browning has created a great cast of characters and put them in a setting that will be familiar to Durangoans. The creative plot will entice all readers. There is also a lot of fascinating information about multiplayer video games, spoofing and internet safety. Winter’s coming, and this is a great book to curl up by a fire and enjoy.
Leslie Doran is a retired teacher, freelance writer and former New Mexican who claims Durango as her forever home.
A conversation with author Micki Browning
Q: What made you decide to create a new main character after your success with “Adrift” and “Beached”?
A: I always knew I’d one day write a police procedural, but after I retired from law enforcement, I needed to decompress a bit. After I’d completed “Beached,” a third Mer Cavallo story was already percolating, but when I sat down at the computer, it was the characters of “Shadow Ridge” that demanded my attention.
Q: Why did you change most of the place names of Durango, while you used Animas for the town’s river running through it?
A: I wanted to be able to place Echo Valley on a map and reference surrounding towns and landscapes. To do so, I took a page from Sue Grafton’s playbook and replaced a real city with a fictional one. In addition to the Animas River, the Echo Valley Police Department is located in close proximity to downtown, and there is a historical avenue of Victorian homes, but the similarities end with the setting – none of my characters are based upon any real people. Besides, why would any mystery writer want to rename a waterway dubbed the River of Lost Souls?
Q: Quinn Kirkwood is a difficult character. How did she evolve?
A: I’d read an article regarding the pushback that female gamers – particularly those who participated in multiplayer games or game development – experienced from a vocal subset of mostly male gamers who weaponized the internet and targeted women who didn’t conform to their ideals of who a gamer should be. I wanted to explore those issues. Quinn – a woman with no filters, a lot of baggage and more than a few secrets – was born.
Q: The internet and video games play a large role in the plot. How difficult and how long did it take you to gain the knowledge you aptly portrayed in the book?
A: My experience with gaming is limited to the early days of Dungeons & Dragons, so I had to put in time researching the current industry. Creating a large-scale game goes far beyond coding and in many ways is similar to creating a film. Everyone has their specialty and expertise – writers, world builders, content and system designers, and more. I spent more time researching online behavior and the formation of hate mobs.
Q: Is there anything else more involving the creating of “Shadow Ridge” that you’d like to share with readers?
A: Part of the joy of reading a book is the discovery of what lies hidden between the lines – and everyone’s experiences determine how they will interpret the same event. In the end, when the last word is read and the book is closed, I hope readers believe Jo is exactly the cop they’d want to respond if they ever needed help.
Q: Are we correct in assuming there will be another book featuring Jo in the future?
A: Thank you for asking, yes! Readers will reconnect with Jo a couple of months after the close of “Shadow Ridge” when she’s called out to investigate a missing child.
Leslie Doran
If you go
What:
Local author Mandy Mikulencak will interview author Micki (M.E.) Browning about her new mystery series set in Colorado. When:
6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Where:
Online on Zoom at https://bit.ly/2HbVUoj
. More information:
Visit https://bit.ly/3of0N0g
or call Maria’s Bookshop at 247-1438.
