Game Warden Joe Pickett gets caught up in a long standing family tug of war in this latest installment from C J Box. The Scarlett family is one of the establishment families in western Wyoming where Joe works more or less on his own in a sparsely populated expanse of land.

The matriarch of the family has for years been flaunting fishing access regulations. In addition she has fostered a deeply divisive feud between two of her three sons. When she disappears after a brief argument with a local fishing outfitter, there are plenty of suspects involved in the questions surrounding her whereabouts.

The woman's granddaughter is a school friend of Pickett's daughter - giving Joe unwanted insight into the issues plaguing the unhappy Scarlett clan, and drawing him into the investigation of her fate almost against his will.

When a homocidal drifter is hired by the Scarlett family, the health and safety of Joe's family is threatened. As readers of this series know by now, when Joe perceives a threat to his family he is unstoppable in removing the wrongdoer. IN PLAIN SIGHT is no exception to this pattern.

REVIEWED BY WOODSTOCK