Welcome to Texas Reads Mysteries, where I get to share my love of books. 

How do you beat the snow, ice, and freezing winter days? Here is one way: with two crime thrillers that are bringing Texas heat. The harsh, unforgiving, deadly Texas desert is no match for a rookie deputy and former FBI agent. That’s why I’ve added them to my TBR list for a cold winter’s night read.  

All The Bones in Brooks County, Texas   

by Adam Taylor Barker 

From the screenwriter of Savage Salvation, starring Robert De Niro and John Malkovich, comes an electrifying new mystery set on the American border. 

First-year deputy Hondo Velazquez has been a lot of things: an orphan, a rodeo cowboy, a Marine, a drifter, and a loner. But he's never hunted a killer. 

Until now... 

Convinced the skeletons of a migrant mother and child are no accident, Deputy Velazquez partners with local forensic investigator Magnolia Moss to uncover the truth and unmask a serial killer. 

With every turn, there's a new suspect. And with each suspect, new danger. As the threads of their investigation begin to unravel, Hondo and Magnolia find themselves bound together and forced to risk the only thing they're unwilling to lose: one another.  

As bodies and bones begin to mount, they must race the clock to deliver justice before they find themselves hunted like prey in an unforgiving desert where people disappear every day. 

But how do you catch a killer when you don't know his victims? 

About the Author 

Adam Taylor Barker is an emerging author of best-selling mystery thrillers. Known for screenwriting, he was selected to the 2013 annual Black List of Hollywood’s “best unproduced screenplays,” among such projects as AMERICAN SNIPER and SPOTLIGHT. Most notably, he is the writer of the major motion picture SAVAGE SALVATION, starring screen legends Robert De Niro and John Malkovich. His second film, ACCELERANT, is nearing production with Sony Pictures.  

Inspired by a lifelong fascination with the humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border, ALL THE BONES IN BROOKS COUNTY, TEXAS is his debut novel. The sequel, ALL THE BONES THEY LEFT BEHIND, is available now. 

Death in a Harsh Land 

Mountain Resort Mystery series Book 5 

by Shannon Work 

No matter how deep you dig, you can't bury the past. 

Detective Jack Martin looks forward to a carefree summer in the Colorado Rockies. But fate has other plans. After a call from an old friend, Jack is on the road to Texas, headed for certain danger. 

After archeologists unearth human bones on a family ranch, one of them is mysteriously murdered. Law enforcement is quick to blame Mexican cartels. Others blame an organized band of thieves wreaking havoc on area ranchers. 

As Jack digs for the truth, things become even more sinister. The family patriarch has recently died in a tragic accident. But now Jack wonders if it was murder. 

Could a legend of lost treasure provide a clue to the mystery? Will Jack find the killer before someone else dies? 

Returning to Texas, Jack faces a part of his past that has haunted him for decades. But it’s not retribution he’s after. It’s justice. 

DEATH IN A HARSH LAND is a story of murder and mystery set in the unforgiving landscape of West Texas, and the fifth book in the suspenseful Mountain Resort Mystery Series. 

About the Author 

Shannon Work writes traditional mysteries set in the Rocky Mountains. The Mountain Resort Mystery Series features detective Jack Martin, a former FBI agent from Texas who solves murders committed in the most exclusive resort towns in Colorado, including Aspen, Vail, and Telluride.  

Shannon grew up in Del Rio, a border town in the dusty wilds of West Texas. When she graduated from high school, she moved east to College Station and graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in land economics and real estate. 

Most of her working life has been spent developing real estate, earning a national Best in America Living Award for one of her developments.  

Shannon and her husband are recent empty nesters and split their time between Houston, Texas, and Telluride, Colorado, always with their laptops and dogs in tow. 

My kind of books!