This is a novel with the laid-back pace of the Oregon desert, and not a tale for those desiring action and a breathless pace. The denouement is quite startling and not something I saw coming so it is worth reading to the bitter end, but a little editing might have been a good thing. Ms Graves is adept at describing the environment, and populating it with some entertaining characters with an Old West feel, drawing on her own undoubted knowledge of the area.

This is a book about healing (in a positive, uplifting way) and the power of empty places as much as it is about sudden death and murder. I hope it is also book one in a new series, with subsequent novels ironing out the passages towards the beginning when not a lot was going on.