"...rewarding...we dare you to try to figure out the mystery before the end...Grab this book..."

DOES the name C.J. Box sound familiar to you? Perhaps not, as the Wyoming-dwelling, cowboy hat sporting bestselling writer has been a US hit for some time, but is only now being pushed on this side of the pond.

If you do know of Box, you’ll know of him for his Joe Pickett series, from which Back of Beyond is a notable break. Fans of Joe won’t be disappointed, though, with this typically heavy-breathing thriller involving murder and the Wild West. Box is more than qualified to write about skullduggery in the American wilds: he’s been a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide and small town newspaper reporter (and now, funnily enough, runs a tourism business with his wife).

In Back of Beyond, we find a classic hero (troubled, drinking problem) faced with murder. Said hero is one Detective Cody Hoyt (he would be called that), who leads the way through a dangerous, murky cover-up with courage, intuition and a nifty way with juicy moral dilemmas.

As for the murder and Hoyt’s motive for solving it: the murderee is Hoyt’s own AA sponsor (see? Told you we have a troubled hero) – burnt to a cinder in his own wilderness shack.

At first it appears to be an accident, but a a computer hard-drive recovered from the scene of the death suggests that something more sinister is going on, and leads Cody on a trip to Yellowstone National Park – where his own son happens to be heading. Could Hoyt Jr be next?

A surprisingly complex but rewarding plot answers this and thousands of other questions: we dare you to try to figure out the mystery before the end. Grab this book for any late-summer holidays or for a bit of escapism if your summer break has been and gone.

http://www.cityam.com/lifestyle/books/barnes-thrills-english-storytellin...