Ranger McIntyre: Small Delightful Murders
Rocky Mountain National Park Ranger Tim McIntyre enjoys his simple life and assignment in the great outdoors. His worst vices are fly fishing on the job and accepting the occasional delicious and free country breakfast from friendly local cooks. Then, out of nowhere, strange, dangerous and criminal events erupt and seem to be targeting the Small Delights lodge. Sabotage, booby traps, and arson threaten this bucolic paradise. Tim can count only on a tough-as-nails and whip-smart niece of the lodge owner and a drop-dead gorgeous FBI secretary to aid him. Suspects include big-city visiting gangsters, competing lodge owners, and even inside threats.
This pleasant little book is a cozy mystery taking place in a verdant setting of forests, mountains and lakes during the Prohibition era. The characters, even the cantankerous ones, are attractive and frequently humorous. Ranger Tim is imbued with a certain old-fashioned, charming innocence which seems nostalgic today. I prefer fishing in the ocean, but now I just may give casting a fly in a stream a chance. A reader could do far worse than spending a few happy, healthy hours with this charming novel.
