Review: Wyoming Mountain Investigation – Juno Rushdan

I was sad to see the end of the Cowboy State Lawmen series so when I realized Juno Rushdan’s next series was a spin-off? JOY! And I’ll be the first to admit that I usually have zero interest in cowboy books but I will always, always make an exception for anything Ms. Rushdan writes!

A deadly fire at a summer camp changed the trajectory of high school sweethearts Liz and Sawyer’s lives. Fifteen years later, a string of arsons has brought Liz, now an FBI agent, back to her hometown and her ex, now the fire marshall. For Sawyer, the questions about why Liz shut him out when she left town are almost important about the questions surrounding the case, but Liz refuses to revisit the past with the man she once planned to marry. As the fires take a personal twist, will their own personal issues

“With the sheriff. They’re together. Didn’t think to mention it.”
“Holden’s brother-in-law, the sheriff, is engaged to the chief of police?”
“Yeah.”

I think Sawyer is the last of the Powell kids to get a book – though don’t quote me on that! For the next review I think I’ll have to make an infographic of how everyone is related and what book they’re in! So of course I found Liz’s confusion in the quote above absolutely hilarious. But all joking aside, it’s nice to be back in Laramie, though technically Liz is from neighboring Bison Ridge.

“Fire was a predictable beast. It breathed. It consumed. More importantly, it also spoke, telling a story. Sawyer only had to interpret. One thing he loved about his job was that fire didn’t lie. Whatever it showed him would be the truth.“

While the story was told from both characters’ points of view (with occasional interludes from the villain), I found Liz’s the most compelling. After the fire, in which she was badly burned, she moved away and unilaterally cut contact with Sawyer, her first love. She didn’t want him to stay with her – her newly scarred body, the complete change in the trajectory of her life – out of guilt and obligation. Fifteen years later, it’s perhaps not a surprise that she’s an expert in arsonists at the Behavioral Analysis Unit, a specialist department at the FBI. She’s used to hiding her scars with long sleeves and neckerchiefs, something that’s become her signature. But what, exactly, is Liz besides her work?

“She’d thought reliving the trauma of the fire would be the hardest part of coming back. Instead, the most difficult thing was blond, blue-eyed, six-three and two hundred pounds of pure stubbornness.”

Sawyer on the other hand stayed in Laramie and became the fire marshall (also a not surprising job choice). Surrounded by his loving family and friends, he’s moved on from a lot of things – but not Liz. Having her assigned to the case feels like fate and he has no intention of letting the past go. Sawyer wants to know why she shut him out all those years ago – and why they can’t pick right back up where they left off. Liz on the other hand believes that thinking of Sawyer and what they used to have makes her weak, that it’s a distraction from finding the killer. Good agents never let their personal emotions interfere with their jobs.

It’s easy to empathize with both sides. While their responses to the trauma are completely different, they both dealt with their hurt in the way they thought best. Their eventual communication and empathy for each other were very sweet and very fulfilling.

And of course, there’s the suspense! The arson plot is well done and figuring out the killer and their next victim was a lot of fun. There’s also a few instances of the main characters going “It can’t possible be… Naaah!” to some plot point that you already know is true thanks to the villain’s POV. Rather than spoiling it, it really added to my enjoyment and anticipation as I waited to see how and whether the characters would figure it out.

Overall, another great suspense from Juno Rushdan! Recommended for anyone looking for a well-paced second chance romance with an intriguing arson plot!

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