Ranch Park

Will Nickerson Mysteries #1

by R.L. Anderson Jr., R.L. Anderson

Will Nickerson gets more than he had bargained for when he volunteered to drive the hayride wagon at Dakota Ranch Park. A murder is committed at the North Dakota theme park--and Will suddenly finds himself thrust into the role of amateur detective. Ranch Park is a light and breezy mystery, a surprise-packed whodunit that will keep you in suspense till the very end, all set against the sweeping beauty of the prairies and the rugged grandeur of the Badlands.

341 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 3, 2012

Reviews

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author is a personal friend. Excellent 1st novel by RL. I enjoyed the book. I did find that he maybe went into too much detail in his descriptions at times, but an overall good job and I would recommend it to cozy mystery lovers.

[Bette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is written for a teen or young adult. Too juvenile for my liking.

[R.L. Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, if I do say so myself!!!! I really had fun writing this story, which came to mind in part from having owned a cattle ranch in North Dakota, plus having volunteered for a small agriculture related theme park. I named my main character Will Nickerson after my first ancestor to come to America, but brought him up to present day, as a small town merchant in North Dakota who volunteers as a hayride wagon driver for a western ranch themed park. There, he teams up with a summer camp counselor, Jenine Mescall, as amateur detectives when a murder is committed at the park. A light and playful romance develops between the two, as they work to solve the crime. Ranch Park is packed with surprises and suspense, now and then a shock, lots of twists and turns in the action, and a bit of humor, too, plus a bit of North Dakota history and culture woven into the background. What you won't find in it, however, is profanity or any of the so-called "adult situations" that so much of contemporary American fiction contains. Ranch Park is written for adults, but it is a good clean read--and is also free from any moralistic preaching. If you want a good clean and purely entertaining whodunit, with a refreshing rural setting, this is the book for you!

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it but it seemed about twice as long as the normal books I read. Lots of descriptions about everything which is great in some places but here just seemed too much. I skipped entire sections and even several pages at a time if I saw there was no dialogue. This didn't keep me from enjoying the story though. The mystery itself was wrapped up in basically the last 5% of the book and was really interesting and I liked the space travel aspect.