The Blue Creek series is a
mixture of suspense and mystery stories that dealwith obsession of various types. The suspense stories deal with antagonists
known from the beginning, while the mysteries deal with unknown ones of course. In each story there is menace threatening characters who
becomes precious to the empathetic reader. Richard Carter suffers PTSD stemming from his experiences
as a Marine in Somalia. His genius, if he has any, is his persistence. The key to his behavior, and the essence
of him, is that he must lose himself in the pursuit of the perpetrator in order to save himself from his own sickness
of the soul. He is a haunted man, not an unhappy one. His story is one of on-going redemption.
In Bonne FemmeRichard's
and Jill Belbenoit's lives become inextricably entwined because of the obsession of a psychopath from Richard's past.
Their relationship, begun with an act of betrayal, is a key part of the first story.
In Cold Tears Richard
tries to help a woman who may have killed or abetted the killing of her own daughter. In pursuit of the truth he salvages
his marriage and his life. Jill provides the impetus that lands him a job with the Hawthorn County Sheriff's
Department.
In Canaan Camp Richard becomes convinced that bodies dumped in Hawthorn County are the work of a
spree killing in northeast Arkansas, and that the killer is hiding nearby.
In Secret Song Richard is promoted to ex officio criminologist when he investgates a series
of disappearances and the persecution and harassment of a paroled murderer whom his wife has befriended.
. . . the best he could hope for was that she would become so
wary of both of them that she would go back to France. Objectively speaking, it would be the best thing she could do.
" Are you okay?" he asked as he approached the fire.
