Twice Buried

An Undersheriff Bill Gastner Mystery, Book 3

By: Steven F. Havill

Narrated by: Rusty Nelson

Undersheriff Bill Gastner knows that the dead bodies on Reuben Fuentes' ranch cannot point to the old man. Gastner summons former deputy Estelle Reyes for help.

Solve another case with Undersheriff Bill Gastner.©1994 Steven F. Havill (P)2002 Books in Motion

Critic reviews

"Havill sensitively explores the area's Mexican-American culture in this increasingly estimable regional series." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Unlike other fictional detectives who approach murder as a personal affront, Gastner sees himself as the victims' advocate, striving to even the scales of justice for those no longer able to do it themselves." ( Booklist)

Real people --

Well narrated; Rusty Nelson certainly comes through with the under-sheriff's voice and demeanor. The crimes aren't some far-fetched rabbit out of the hat stuff; but things that could be "real". And the timing is great; I can listen to this during a part of a day instead of trying to remember it through several days. I'm hooked; I'll buy and listen through the entire series if they are as good as the first three have been.

I love this series

From the whodunit to the narration, this series is great! Well written, real characters and spot on narration. Start from the beginning, you'll be anxious for the next in the series!

Just Plain Fun

Nuthin' better than listening to a Havill book read by Rusty Nelson. It's like hanging out with an old friend you just adore.

Good mystery. Well-developed characters.

I enjoyed this story which is a complicated police procedural. This was my first in this series but it was self-contained. I like the protagonist, Undersheriff Bill Gastner, and his former partner, Estelle Reyes, called back into service temporarily. Bill isn't the brightest bulb on the tree, and Estelle is often two or three steps ahead of him. Bill is however dedicated to both justice and serving his community and that is refreshing. His main failing seems to be that he eats too much, but at least he's not a drunk like so many other detectives.

Rusty Nelson did an acceptable job but reads much too slowly for my taste. As an illustration, book #18 (One Perfect Shot) is actually a prequel to the series, and there are two narrators available, both unabridged versions of this 250-page book. Rusty takes 13 hr, 39 min, while Ray Porter takes only 10 hr, 31 min, more than three hours less!! I have started listening to the version by Porter, who seems to be excellent.

Loved It

I really like this author. He writes like he has some experience in law enforcement. I will definitely listen to more of his books. This was my first. I really liked the narrator too. I’m kind of picky about the narration.