WILD INSTINCT, good story that (I hope!) starts a series

WILD INSTINCT
T. JEFFERSON PARKER
Minotaur Books (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$14.99 ebook, available now

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Lew Gale, a former Marine sniper, now an Orange County California Sheriff’s detective, is assigned to track and shoot a mountain lion that has killed a man in Caspers Park, located in the rugged country east of Laguna Beach, California. The victim is Bennet Tarlow, a rich developer and man-about-town in upscale coastal Orange County.

The investigation takes an unexpected—and chilling—turn when Lew and his deputy sheriff arrive at the kill site in the Santa Ana mountains, only to discover that Bennet was dead before the lion got to him. And while Bennet might have been the first to die, he certainly will not be the last.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Blame an animal for a human crime. A solid, well-established trope for the unimaginative villain in mysteries. It's popular because it works for authors and readers both.

Lew Gale gets to be his psychologically and physically stressed self as he draws on the learning about his Native American ancestors he's done, as well as his truly intense and often dreadful life in the Marines; Daniela's book-learning gets real-world polishing as the grit of human evil takes down the higher, rougher edges.

That bodes well for more stories to be told featuring these two. I don't know if the author/publisher discussions have included this as a possibility. Since he has three series on the go already {that I know about: Charlie Hood (6 books), Merci Rayborn (3 books), and Roland Ford (4 books)}, permaybehaps that is not on the horizon still less the table. I'd read 'em if they came out.

Which leads me to why I enjoyed the read. I was not interested in anyone being caught for the death of a rich scumbag who was also a property developer *shudder*. I was interested by Lew's ability to make connections when I wasn't sure I saw them, and then prove they were relevant. I resonate well with the reminder not to get locked in on one and only one solution to a problem. Daniela's got the apprentice role, so she's helping us readers by asking questions. She's a solid character in her own right, with major baggage and some disturbing issues to work out, but we need the question-asker in every mystery. It lets the sleuth, in this case a sheriff, infodump on us gracefully...in the right hands, like Author Parker's.

I will note that the mountain lion bit of the story is lightly salted over the real story. It was not central to any development; it could've been eliminated entirely and nothing would change. *unhappy sigh*