The Bitterroots (Cody Hoyt and Cassie Dewell Series #5)

by C. J. Box

Overview

Investigator Cassie Dewel must work through deep roots without getting ensnared in #1 New York Times bestselling author C.J. Box's next searing novel of loyalty, lies, and lethal retribution.

The ties that bind can burn you.

Former sheriff’s investigator Cassie Dewell is trying to start her life over as in private practice. She’s her own boss and answers to no one, and that’s just the way she likes it after the past few tumultuous years. All that certainty changes when an old friend calls in a favor: she wants Cassie to help exonerate a man accused of assaulting a young woman from an influential family.

Against her own better judgment, Cassie agrees. But out by the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana, twisted family loyalty runs as deep as the ties to the land, and there's always something more to the story. The Kleinsassers have ruled this part of Montana for decades, and the Iron Cross Ranch is their stronghold. They want to see Blake Kleinsasser, the black sheep of the family, put away forever for the assault. As Cassie attempts to uncover the truth, she must fight against a family whose roots are tangled and deadly—as well as the ghosts of her own past that threaten to bring her down.

With The Bitterroots, master storyteller C. J. Box delivers another searing novel of loyalty, lies, and lethal retribution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250051059
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/13/2019
Series:	Cody Hoyt and Cassie Dewell Series
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

C. J. Box is the author of more than thirty books, including the Joe Pickett series and the Cassie Dewell series, and a story collection. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages. He has won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe, and Barry Awards, as well as the French Prix Calibre .38, and has been a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist. A Wyoming native, Box has also worked on a ranch and as a small-town newspaper reporter and editor. He’s an executive producer of ABC TV’s Big Sky, which is based on his Cody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell novels, as well as executive producer of the Joe Pickett television series for Spectrum Originals. He lives with his wife on their ranch in Wyoming.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Bitterroots:

"Outstanding...Vividly etched characters and a realistic plot lift this outing, and the well-done Montana setting is a plus. Box remains at the top of his game." —Publishers Weekly

"Will render readers utterly immobilized until they've closed the book...Box has become the dominant mystery/thriller author of the mountain West." —Booklist

Praise for Paradise Valley:

"Thrilling plot, evocative setting, deep characterization; this book has them all." —Reviewing the Evidence

"[Box has] crafted fascinating characters and put them in riveting, challenging circumstances that test their mettle and threaten their worlds." —The Durango Herald

Praise for Badlands:

“Suspenseful—you can’t put it down.” —Library Journal (starred)

“Brilliant…the most effective of his thriller since his Edgar-winning Blue Heaven.” –Booklist (starred)

"A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural...The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read.” –Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

★ 2019-05-27
The creator of Wyoming Fish and Game Warden Joe Pickett (Wolf Pack, 2019, etc.) launches a new series starring a female private eye who messes with a powerful family and makes everyone involved rue the day.

Cassie Dewell's been taking a monthly retainer from Bozeman attorney Rachel Mitchell for investigations of one sort and another, but she really doesn't want to look into the case of Rachel's newest client. That's partly because Blake Kleinsasser, the fourth-generation firstborn of a well-established ranching family who moved to New York and made his own bundle before returning back home, comes across as a repellent jerk and partly because all the evidence indicates that he raped Franny Porché, his 15-year-old niece. And there's plenty of evidence, from a rape kit showing his DNA to a lengthy, plausible statement from Franny. But Cassie owes Rachel, and Rachel tells her she doesn't have to dig up exculpatory evidence, just follow the trail where it leads so that she can close off every other possibility. So Cassie agrees even though there's an even more compelling reason not to: The Kleinsassers—Horst II and Margaret and their three other children, John Wayne, Rand, and Cheyenne, Franny's thrice-divorced mother—are not only toxic, but viperishly dangerous to Blake and now Cassie. Everyone in Lochsa County, from Sheriff Ben Wagy on down, is in their pockets, and everyone Cassie talks to, from the Kleinsassers to the local law, finds new ways to make her life miserable. But Cassie, an ex-cop single mother, isn't one to back down, especially since she wonders why anyone would take all the trouble to stop an investigation of a case that was as rock-solid as this one's supposed to be.

An appealing new heroine, a fast-moving plot, and a memorably nightmarish family make this one of Box's best.

Kirkus Reviews