Nothing But Trouble

Kevin Kerney #10

by Michael McGarrity, George Guidall (Narrator)

Former deputy sheriff Michael McGarrity's stunning cop mysteries, including Slow Kill (RB# 98220), have been nominated for the coveted Anthony Award. The New York Times says, "McGarrity has a cunning mind for crime fiction." When pro rodeo star Johnny Jordan returns to Santa Fe, he asks his childhood friend, police chief Kevin Kerney, to serve as a consultant on a new film being staged along the Mexican border. On the road to the location, Kerney discovers the dead body of an undercover federal agent.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Audiobook, Thriller, Westerns

Audiobook

First published March 22, 2006

About the author

With the publication of Tularosa in 1996, Michael McGarrity turned to writing full time. Many of his novels have been national best sellers. He holds a BA with distinction in psychology and a master's degree in clinical social work. As an undergraduate, he held a Ford Foundation Scholarship at the University of New Mexico. Additionally, he is an honor graduate of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy.

His career in criminal justice spanned over twenty-five years and included creating treatment programs for drug offenders, supervising outreach services for at-risk juveniles, and re-establishing mental health services for the Department of Corrections after the infamous 1980 riot at the New Mexico Penitentiary. As a Santa Fe County deputy sheriff, he worked as a patrol officer, training and planning supervisor, community relations officer, and was the lead investigator of the sex crimes unit, which he established. Additionally, he taught courses at the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy, served as a caseworker and investigator for the Public Defender's District Office, and conducted investigations for a state government agency. In 1980 he was named New Mexico Social Worker of the Year and in 1987 was recognized by the American Legion as Police Officer of the Year.

In 2004 he received the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts -- Literature. He is also the 2015 recipient of the Frank Waters Exemplary Literary Achievement Award and the 2015 Santa Fe Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts – Literature. He has been instrumental in establishing the Hillerman-McGarrity Creative Writing Scholarship at the University of New Mexico, the Richard Bradford Memorial Creative Writing Scholarship at the Santa Fe Community College, and the N. Scott Momaday Creative Writing Scholarship at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife Emily Beth (Mimi).

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

When local boy made good comes back to town, he brings an opportunity for Kevin Kerney, but also a whole lot of trouble.

Former rodeo star now business man comes to town, offering to hire Kerney as a consultant on a movie. The rodeo star is a real troublemaker, always about a half step ahead of the law. There's a dead body on set, and things start to get real, and the pentagon gets involved.

Not bad, but I don't think it held together. There's just too many moving pieces.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel was sure titled correctly. An honest to goodness dud from iconic author Michael McGarrity. Written in 2006, protagonist Sheriff Kevin Kerney just months away from forced retirement from he Santa Fe P.D. is looking forward to a future with wife Lt. Colonel Sara Brannon and young son Patrick. A not so friendly face from Kerney's childhood past pops into Kevin's life with the deal of a lifetime. Irresponsible Johnny Jordan has a hair brained scheme to shoot a western on this parent's old and dying ranch. Johnny wants to hire Kevin to be a police consultant and give technical advise on the shoot. Of course Kevin is very weary of Johnny's possible motives. Even Sara is looking forward to taking a long New Mexico vacation and bond with Kevin and son Patrick. This book falls off a cliff with the Pentagon decides to step in and sends Sara to Ireland on a secret case that will for so many chapters. Plus, the Sara in Ireland arc really gets no resolution. The last 100 pages are then rendered moot because the plot has totally fallen apart. A real disappointing Keven Kerney tale to be sure. I have a few more of McGarrity's Kerney's books to yet read. I'm counting on a large bounce back with the next book up. ("Death Song"). I'm a huge Michael McGarrity fan having met him several times at the Tucson Festival Of Books. However, "Nothing But Trouble", only gets two stars out of a possible five stars. Skip this one.

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will start off right away by saying, this was a really good book!
However, I feel I need to explain why this isn’t a 5

I don’t know what’s going on with McGarrity but his style is getting kind of annoying.
#1). The story about the art thief had NOTHING to do with the main plots (Plots is intentional) of the book. Why put it in here?
#2) The story about Sara and her pursuit of George Spaulding was excellent except, there wasn’t an ending.
#3) This book ended as a serious cliff hanger which is really annoying for folks that just pick up a book or two from the series. You HAVE to read the next one to figure out what is going on with Sara in Iraq. And what happened to the Spaulding investigation.

This book WAS very engaging. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The only plot that had resolution was the murder and the smuggling that occurred in the boot-heel. Although, I would like to know if the movie production ended in success and whether it actually became a movie or not.
Lots of loose ends obviously. I’m going to read the next book because I want to find out what has happened to Sara. BUT, I’m NOT happy about it!

[Kurt Kamperschroer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy Kevin Kearney novels, but I detest when a novel is left with an unfinished story. This book basically had two stories continuing throughout the novel but only one is resolved. The other is left unfinished forcing you to read the next novel. I would much prefer having a complete conclusion.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the 10th entry in the Kevin Kearny adventures, which up until this book was a fairly solid series. We're all entitled to an "Oops!" now and then so hopefully this isn't the beginning of a trend for this author/series.

Kearny is the chief of police in Santa Fe, NM, married to Sara Brannon, a career military woman. In the past books the marriage is somewhat awkward as Sara spends little time in New Mexico, but this absence allows Kevin to fight crime while providing the reader a sub-plot or two. And in fact there is a plot concerning Sara started in the last book that runs through Nothing But Trouble - thankfully - because that's the only engaging part of this book.

In this volume Kearny is visited by a high school buddy - a black sheep then and a black sheep now, which the author repeatedly points out to the reader - who is now a movie-maker and hires Kearny as a law-enforcement consultant for the picture he's shooting locally. While traveling to the movie set our hero stumbles across a dead body alongside the road and becomes tangentially involved in the investigation of a possible illegal alien smuggling operation.

That's it - there's your plot. There are some very dry travelogue descriptions and a lengthy but superficial take on movie-making, but not a whole lot of story. As stated earlier, Sara's "case" - the 50-60 pages of it - is really the only interesting part of this 370 page book.

All of the things that made the earlier books work - Kearny's fellow police officers, their investigative work and a cast of colorful bad guys - are all strangely and inexplicably missing in Nothing But Trouble. This is a solid police procedural series so don't be put off by this book, just read one of the other nine volumes.

[Bob Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book moves around alot in the story line form army deserters,smuggling contraband in caskets from the Vietnam war corrupt congress men taking bribes to smuggling contraband smokes along the New Mexico border to shooting Movies with cowboys and cattle drives.

[Michael Sump · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing But Trouble, 2 stars.
I probably rate this a 2.5-star novel, but it left me unsatisfied and more than a little peeved so I’m rounding down to a 2. The problem is that the novel has too much going on. There are two major plots and no less than 3 minor ones. You can’t say that any of them were truly resolved.
I found that I enjoyed the international manhunt/Pentagon politics bit more than the one targeting a smuggling operation. Either would have been better than constantly bouncing back and forth between the two. The rodeo/movie subplot was interesting but equally unresolved. To sum it up, McGarrity raised a lot of questions but answered only a fraction of them. Endings do not seem to be his strong suit.
I’ve read the nine previous Kevin Kerney novels in this series, and I’ve more or less liked them. Kevin Kerney, the police chief of Santa Fe, NM, is a fairly standard protagonist, his current job is to be the Police Chief of Santa Fe, New Mexico. I like the series primarily for the descriptive rendering of the New Mexico countryside and for the interesting crimes that Kerney and his colleagues must solve. McGarrity is okay but not as good as Craig Johnson and certainly not as good as the great Tony Hillerman at setting a scene.

[LJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

NOTHING BUT TROUBLE (Police Proc-New Mexico-Cont) – DNF
McGarrity, Michael – 10th book
Onyx, 2005- US Paperback – 0451412281
*** Santa Fe Police Chief Kevin Kerney is persuaded, by a childhood friend, to take the job of technical advisor for a film. But Kevin soon finds himself involved in a murder investigation that may tie into the smuggling of illegal immigrants and organized crime.
*** Having read to page 120 with very little having happened except three occasions of appalling bad sentence structure (pages 1, 101 and 120) and even worse editing for the errors not having been corrected, I give up. There is one crime solved fairly early in the book that seems to have no connection with the rest of the story. Other than Kerney’s wife and his friend’s mother, other women are portrayed as troubled, vapid, and all of them sexually aggressive. The information on film making is interesting but, slightly more than one-third of the way into the story, does not seem to have much to do with the mystery. I’ve way too many more books waiting to be read to waste my time with this.

[Anne, Unfinished Woman · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT

Both Kevin Kerney and his wife have cases in this installment of the series. Kevin is approached by a mate from his school days, Johnny Jordan, to act as a technical advisor on a modern western to be shot on the Jordan ranch Granite Pass Cattle Co., in the Bootheel of New Mexico. It sounds like fun and Dale Jennings is also going to be an advisor, so Kevin agrees. He figures that Sara and Patrick can go with him for a vacation. He attends the early setup and in traveling to become familiar with the Bootheel where he has not previously gone, he finds a dead customs agent on the highway. He decides he is not going to be able to overlook the possible illegal immigration problems that are under investigation in the area. He also finds that there is another problem with stolen and resold cigarettes. He then goes about the business of policing in Santa Fe, catching a thief, Crystal Hurley, a wealthy socialite who steals for the fun of it, and attending to a variety of festivals coming up. He announces that with the retirement of the current governor, he will be out of a job and is going to retire as well. When Sara hears this she is hopeful that he will accompany her to her new assignment in Turkey. She then finds out that her petty, mean boss, Brigadier General Stuart Thatcher has other plans, to keep her at the Pentagon for another three years and undermine her career getting her pushed out. She has been, as a sort of rebel, a pain in his butt.

She is recruited by her protector/mentor to another temporary assignment, and she approaches him to another job. She has determined that the fugitive Geroge Spalding, aka George McGuire, is in Ireland, trying to set up a new life. He has had Josephine Paquette buy a fabulous home on Dublin's riviera Dun Laoghaire, and has bought a yacht, the Sapphire. General Henry Powhatan Clarke warns her that going on this assignment could be risky. She has targeted Spalding's associate in smuggling gemstones in coffins from Vietnam during the war and wants to get him in the process. Col Thomas Loring Carrier has retired from the Army however, he has many friends in high places, and one of the friends is her boss Thatcher. She had bypassed him to Clarke then proposing the assignment. In Ireland she gets help from Det Hugh Fitzmaurice and they track down Spalding, arresting his as he arrives at his new home. They freeze his assets and are in the process of turning him over to the Canadians, not the Americans. Thatcher has done some research and determines when Sara in doing and goes to other Generals and has her picked up and returned to the Pentagon. She is told she is to be staying at the Pentagon. She asks to retire and they refuse her. Clarke, however, has intervened and gotten her sent to Iraq, where she be out of Thatcher's reach.

Sara manages to pass on to Fitzmaurice a DVD of all the interviews of Spalding and Paquette, and her research. Fitzmaurice takes it to John Ryan a journalist working for the largest paper in Ireland. He tells Hugh to put it on the web to get it public, and avoid it being covered up. In the end Spalding and Carrier's deed are revealed, though both the Canadians and the Americans join forces to try to cover up the whole case. Kevin and Patrick travel to DC to sell the house and make other arrangements for the six months that Sara will be in Iraq.

Back in NM, Kevin goes to the movie set and proceeds to help with reviewing the actions of the police on the movie. When he had toured the ranch he saw Walt Shaw, the ranch manager, and another man offloading something at a barn far into the property, and her saw a plane taking off, finding a landing strip just on the other side in the adjoining ranch. He later decides there is an opportunity for the smugglers to do some business during the concert that is part of the movie, and enlists the help of the State police, Andy Baca, and they set up surveillance on the landing strip. Shaw has gotten mad at his helper in the smuggling because Buster Martinez had stolen a hand- crafted saddle and Kevin spots it. They pick Martinez up but make it seem that they believe him when he says he bought it in Las Vegas. Shaw takes him to the landing strip for a supposed shipment, and then shoots him, putting him in the plane. The police sniper shoots into the engine of the plane and Shaw is caught, millions of cigarettes and dollars are found on his small ranch in virden, which he had killed to inherit.

Kevin and Patrick go back to the ranch, Kerney gets Patrick a pony, and they prepare to wait for Sara to finish her assignment, praying she will get through it without getting hurt.

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing But Trouble by Michael McGarrity is the tenth book of the Kevin Kerney mystery series set in contemporary New Mexico. Rather than a single case for Santa Fe Police Chief Kevin Kerney to solve, there are multiple mysteries in Nothing But Trouble, including one that is entirely his wife's.

From out of the blue, Kerney gets a call from Johnny Jordan, a boyhood friend. Kerney had not kept in touch, since he'd learned one summer what a slacker Johnny was. Apparently over the years Johnny has continued his charming and persuasive ways. As Kerney reflects "Johnny had a catch-and-release attitude toward women." and we learn what a con artist Johnny is.

A former rodeo star, Johnny's producing a western to be filmed in New Mexico's Bootheel. He wants Kerney to be the technical advisor on law enforcement scenes. Kerney's wife, Colonel Sara Brannon, will be on leave soon. This could be a fun vacation for Kerney, Sarah, and their 3-year-old son Patrick.

Sara is looking forward to telling Kerney in person about her new posting overseas, hoping he'll retire so they can all live together abroad for the next few years. But Sara's nasty commanding officer plans to dead-end her career with a menial stateside assignment. Sara appeals to her mentor, a higher officer, and gets assigned (at her request) to a secret mission hunting a fugitive abroad. Her true goal is far more ambitious and risky: prove a high-ranking US military officer is involved.

Scouting the Bootheel, Kerney finds a dead body. He agrees to covertly assist a federal investigation while advising on the movie. Sara can't tell him where she's going or why, only that he is in charge of Patrick for 2 weeks.

Kerney handily solves an art theft case in Santa Fe before the movie filming begins. Plenty of action, interesting movie-making trivia, and vivid descriptions of the landscape hold a reader's interest in Kerney's Bootheel activities.

Meanwhile Sara's fast-paced adventure keeps a reader turning pages. She's so successful, she triggers a cover-up at the Pentagon, and she's suddenly escorted back to the US. Then the nasty commanding officer assigns Sara to duty in Iraq.

Kerney solves his cases and forges a bond with Patrick, but what happens to Sara? I guess we'll have to wait and see in later books.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

large-scale drug-smuggling operation

Very attractive series based on a lawman in New Mexico and his family. This is part of the series called the Kevin Kerney Novels. This paragraph applies to all books in this series. The story’s are great, but what makes this series stand out is how the country is worked into the story, It’s almost as if you are there. The author is a gifted story teller.

Do you need to read this series in order: Yes, it helps a lot. Note that Hard Country and Backlands (and one pending maybe) are the prequels.

Triggers: Cops and police situations, there are rapes, homicides, and crime.

Reluctantly working as a technical adviser for a western being filmed in New Mexico, Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney finds the murdered body of a young man near an isolated Mexican border crossing and discovers that a large-scale drug-smuggling operation may be responsible.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the Goodreads Blurb: As separate investigations embroil them in circumstances that will forever change their lives, Kerney must care for Patrick while Sara plays a dangerous game of Pentagon politics. Packed with family secrets, international intrigue, and memorable characters, this is McGarrity's most ambitious and involving novel to date-- traveling an accelerating arc from Santa Fe to the desert grasslands and mountains of the Bootheel, to the most secret levels of the Pentagon, to a resort town on the coast of Ireland, and back to an adrenaline-charged climax on a desolate landing strip a few miles north of the Mexican border.

An unusual structure in play here: four quite distinct stories in the mix. I deducted a star because one of the stories — arguably the most important one — is not resolved by the end of the, although it will probably be tied up in the next book. Normally, we would have moved on to the next title in one of our series at this point; instead we will read the next Kerney so we can resolve that hanging storyline.

This was book #34 on our 2022 Read-alouds List and book #27 on our 2022 Read-alouds With Lutrecia List.

[Andrew Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

McGarrity constructs a two part scenario for this book. Both Kevin and his wife Sara are involved in cases that stem from their work. There are many side stories in this novel. First, Kevin Kerney goes to southern New Mexico to give technical advice to a film where the reader encounters all of the prep work that goes into filming. Second, Kerney finds a smuggling operation going on at the same time that the film is being made. Third, Sara is sent to Ireland to bring back a deserter from Vietnam who has made a million dollar business in stolen merchandise. A good piece of the middle of the book deals with her investigation with the help of Irish authorities and gives the reader a glimpse of life in Dublin. So, the action goes from the streets of Dublin to the vast deserts of southern New Mexico. A large bite to chew but McGarrity pulls it off. A very good read.

[Rosemary Dreyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different kind of novel in the Kevin Kerney series. This one involves more exploration of Sara and her role in the Army, as well as a shift to Kerney being involved with a movie shoot in the “Boot-heel” of New Mexico. What I liked: all the elements involved in the Irish investigation; seeing Kerney more involved as a dad; the intrigue with illegal activities; the behind the scenes look at filming a Western. What I didn’t like: the abrupt ending; the unfinished plot thread with illegals crossing the border and the murder of an undercover agent. Overall, it was a refreshing change of pace.

[Lane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Below the other books in the series. There are two stories that are only related because Kevin in involved one and Sara is in the other.Both are coming to changes in their careers. Kevin is moonlighting on a movie set and becomes involved in alien crossing scheme where an undercover officer is killed. He solves a cigarette smuggling case but not the human trafficking. Sara is involved in a corrupt and incompetent officers' activities but she gets reprimanded and buried in her career.
So no solution for either. Plus the pace is very slow.

[Doug Sundseth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

This book has interesting parts, but it's badly scattered.

There are four major storylines (including the relationship storyline for the protagonist). None of those storylines has much to do with any of the others. Each of the storylines works, but only one of them comes to anything like a conclusion.

This feels like connective tissue between actual novels.

The only thing saving the book is that the character development is good and the atmosphere of southern New Mexico is relatively well established.

[Cybercrone · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has been my least favourite book so far in the series. It did seem to be trying a little too hard.

I was a bit put off by Sara seemingly having to tell the Irish Inspector every step to take as if he didn't have any experience of his own.

And the whole childcare/parenting set of problems was just too sad, though I know there are many parents who face similar trials.

Otherwise a good book in a good series.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining. Mr McGarrity redeemed himself IMHO after leaving me hanging in the last volume. Perhaps he is writing more of a serial series now. I realize the Kevin Kerney series was more or less a serial type story, but until last book he had solved most of the cases before moving on to the next tome. Ther is nothing wrong with that approach. Although when it is new in the series it leaves you unfulfilled.

Thankfully he has not done that with this novel.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure about this book because Kearny wasn't the central focus. But the other story lines were interesting enough that I got over it. I certainly hope Michael McGarrity's editor didn't get a Christmas bonus after this book - I could not believe the mistakes I discovered. I don't recall ever finding misused words/errors in a Michael McGarrity book before.

[Janice · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first few of this series were pretty good, then just kind of so-so, but this one was a mess. It had two plot lines, one for Kerney and one for his wife. For awhile, I kept waiting for what was going to make the two related, but it became clear pretty quickly that wasn't going to happen. Which is probably a shame, because neither one on its on was strong enough to carry the book. Was already considering dropping the series, and now I will.

[Jean]

Another great entry in the Kevin Kerney series. Parallel mysteries going on with kevin trying to unravel a smuggling operation and Sarah trying to close out an old crime that takes her to Ireland. Both mysteries are good; however I got more pulled into Sarah trying to catch her crook. Fast paced and fun from a talented story teller. If you like C J Box, I think you will enjoy McGarrity.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hope the next book in the Kevin Kerney series is better than this one. I have enjoyed the series, but Nothing But Trouble is my least favorite. I found the movie making details boring and didn't really get interested in the book until I was about halfway through. There just wasn't enough action and, except for the two murders, the crimes were rather ordinary.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was fun as it took Kerney into the world of filmmaking in New Mexico. No special insights into the process for folks with film experience, but it's always fun to watch newbees watch the sausage being made. McGarrity strains credibility with a storyline carried over from the previous book. Sure, military brass are uniformly ass holes, but this was a stretch.

[Steve Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty good read with exceptions. Kerney put up with Johnny Jordan's crap too long. We didn't really see how Johnny Jordan's story ended.
The dysfunction of the pentagon wasn't all that interesting or surprising either. In reality, it's probably even worse than depicted.
Sara's trip to Ireland and working with Det. Fitzmaurice was the most interesting part.

[Dave Delsigne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this series and this installment … but, this one was a bit weird in that it contained two stories in one … Kerney with his movie and Sarah with the Spalding investigation. I just wish we were given an ending! There was too much left up in the air with this one … no problem I guess … I’ll be reading the next story in the Kevin Kerney series!

[Jennifer Bolton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one seemed a little bit all over for me, with Kerney not necessarily the main focus, which was a tad disappointing. However, if the foreshadowing is heading where I think it is...OMG!
Still enjoying the series.

[Rich Buickerood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read all the McGarrity/Kevin Kerney books, and thus far, this is my least favorite. I found the plot to be draggy, almost boring...perhaps worthy of a short story not a novel. Much too much time was spent talking about making movies and about his wife's problems with the Army.

[Cathie Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay book. Storyline and plot were interesting, but they didn't seem to be resolved by the end of the book. Lots of detail which makes for slow reading and distraction. I liked the characters. They were well developed, but there was just too much detail. Recommend.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 10th entry in the series, although I do wish that the Sara deployment situation had been resolved. However, it was a good read, interesting plot lines, and well written. Definitely will continue this series.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a different book for McGarrity. I didn't
really care for the international intrigue. It held my
interest, just not my cup of tea.