One Perfect Shot: A Posadas County Mystery

Bill Gastner Mystery #0.5

by Steven F. Havill

When a county employee is found shot to death in sun-drenched daylight while sitting in his county road grader, Undersheriff Bill Gastner is faced with puzzling questions. The simplest explanation-that an errant bullet from a careless target shooter's rifle blew out Larry Zipoli's brains-is soon discarded as inconsistencies surface. The fatal bullet shows no rifling marks, and investigation reveals that the shooter walked directly toward the road grader, in full view of the victim-who did nothing to defend himself. In addition to the demands of the investigation, Gastner learns that Sheriff Eduardo Salcido has hired a new deputy without discussing the matter with his undersheriff. Gastner learns that the new hire is destined to be the first female road patrol deputy in the history of Posadas County. Thus begins Gastner's relationship with Estelle Reyes, whose shrewd observations shed important light on a crime that rattles all kinds of skeletons lurking in Posadas County closets.

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

341 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Steven F. Havill is an American author of mysteries and westerns.

Havill lives in Raton, New Mexico, with his wife Kathleen. He has written two series of police procedurals set in the fictional Posadas County, New Mexico; along with other works.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The latest offering from New Mexico author Steve Havill is a prequel to his long running Posadas County series. Here new Posadas County Sheriff's Department recruit Estelle Reyes is shown the ropes by Under Sheriff Bill Gastner, helping him investigate a case involving a road grater operator killed with one shot through the head. The story is told from Gastner's POV, complete with his usual curmudgeonly comments about life and the joys of a good burrito. Posadas is a ficticious county in Southern New Mexico located between Deming and Lordsburg, and these books always perfectly capture the feel of the area. These are procedurals, and capture the monotony of police work without actually being monotonous. This particular story includes many details involving guns and ballastics, which are actually quite fascinating. Since she's new in this story, Estelle's character isn't quite developed here, but the book makes a nice entry point for new readers. Another fun entry in a great series by an unjustly under-rated and over-looked author.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not fond of prequels but read this to complete my reading of the Bill Gastner books. It is painfully and painstakingly evident that author Steven Havill has taken a qualification in gunsmithing. The endless detail about guns and bullets and shooting fill out the pages of this novel, which also introduces us to the brand new to the Posades county police Estelle Reyes. When we are not being treated to a treatise on weaponry we are treated to far too many lingering descriptions of her beauty and curves while other women are plain and bulky. Get over it Steven, you have grown into a distasteful chauvinist in your old age. The plot is neither interesting nor convincing. Bad move to second guess yourself and try to write about what happened before you began the series (with Bill Gastner smoking yet in this novel he is giving up....)

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never read this author before but I enjoyed the book. It is a very easy read and not overly complicated as to the technical aspect. The author, through the characters, explained anything technical which was good since many people don't know much about the ballistics of firearms. The primary character Undersheriff Bill Gastner reminds me somewhat of an old-time cop in a modern world. He is good at what he does but does it in a plotting manner but isn't into the wiz bang technical aspects of modern law enforcement. The author makes Gastner a real person rather than a cop with super human abilities as seen in other mysteries involving law enforcement. A reader almost senses that Gastner would rather that he had been in a world 50 years before.

Since this book was his latest (2011) of the Posada County Bill Gastner Mysteries, I would like now to go back to the beginning of the series to read what I missed..

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Steven Havill wrote a total of 18 books during 1991 – 2015. The first series is about Bill Gastner, as the Undersheriff of Posada County, then later as Sheriff. The second series, the Posada County Mysteries, is about Estella Reyes who becomes the Undersheriff, after Gastner retires. This book is a prequel to both series, begining with Reyes being hired by the Sheriff’s Department. According the book jacket Havill has just finished an AAS in gunsmithing, which is the problem with this book. The author goes on and on about his entire knowledge of gunsmithing, which is not only completely boring, it does not further the story, nor does it make me wish to read any more of his novels.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

One Perfect Shot is a Prequel to the Bill Gastner Mystery series by Steven F. Havill. One morning Undersheriff Bill Gastner call to the case of the murder of a county employee. At first, Undersheriff Bill Gastner belied that the employee rand shooting. However, that was not the case. During the investigation, Undersheriff Bill Gastner realise that Sheriff Eduardo Salcido has hired a new deputy Estelle Reyes without his input. The readers of One Perfect Shot will follow Undersheriff Bill Gastner and Estelle Reyes investigation to find out what happens.

The One Perfect Shot is the first book I have read by Steven F. Havill. At first, I was not sure I would enjoy this book. However, I was wrong. The One Perfect Shot was an enjoyable book to read. I loved Steven F. Havill's portrayal of his characters and how they intertwine with each other throughout this book. One Perfect Shot was well written and researched by Steven F. Havill. I like Steven F. Havill description of the settings of One Perfect Shot that complimented the book's plot.

The readers of One Perfect Shot will learn about a competition called Multi-Gun or three-gun match. The readers of One Perfect Shot will also learn about the difference between Sheriff and Undersheriff in the New Mexico Sheriff Department.

I recommend this book.

[Joe Bolin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I missed Undersheriff Bill Gastner, and this book was the perfect antidote! As with all of the Posadas County mysteries, Havill has written a novel that reads wells and perfectly captures the life of a small town; if anything, One Perfect Shot provides more details of the residents and their town than the prior seventeen books in the series. It's heartening to see that Havill has also left enough loose ends that a sequel is a real possibility! My only reservation was that the ending seemed anti-climactic; I had expected there to be a clearer motive for the crime than the one presented.

[Kathy KS · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this beginning of a new series (for me!) and will continue reading the next volume. Set in a fictional New Mexico county near the Mexican border, this one taught me more about ammunition than I'll ever need, but it's definitely part of the plot.

Characters were believable and it's easy to see that things are falling in to place for the actual series to commence. This one doesn't have "big bad guys", but people making decisions whether right or wrong, and having to deal with the consequences.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing mystery puzzle. An improbable murder with lots of interesting characters. I like that the crime was solved by using realistic skills, no feats of incredible physical ability or super sleuth intuition. I am intrigued enough by the unresolved side mystery of the Orosco that I might look for the next book in the series to find out what's going on there.

[Sherri Vigil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Havill book I've read. Sometimes I'm interested in alot of detail or locale descriptions. Not this time. However, the characters themselves I did enjoy. I'm holding this series in reserve for another time.

[C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish, got sick of the pervasive profanity! I did not find this book in the least engaging, and I will not continue book that is continuous profanity as this one is. No "F" bombs but continual religious swears and others, causes me to dislike the characters.

[Bubba · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy read, good mystery, believable characters, nice feel for NM. First in the series I've read, will definitely try others

[Gerry Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I seldom re-read a book. I have read every book in this series at least twice. Fantastic author!

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the prequel to the entire Posadas County series. It’s instructive because Havill shows you how Undersheriff Bill Gastner and a single, youthful Estelle Reyes become first work associates and eventually close friends.

Larry Zipoli took a bullet in his brain while he was out on county business grading a road. It looked like he knew who shot him. There was no resistance, or any indication of defensive action taken on his part.

But Larry may have been far from an innocent victim. As Reyes and Gastner investigate, they uncover a troubled man who frequently drank on the job and who had caused a spate of accidents involving county vehicles none of which had done bodily harm to anyone.

This is a good, slow investigation that will take you from hostile interviews to the hallways of a school.

Naturally, my favorite part is observing the seemingly inexperienced Estelle. You see early on the steel in her spine that will be so necessary as her responsibilities with the department increase and as she marries and raises her children. Havill dwells a bit on her physical assets, but he fortunately doesn’t entirely neglect displaying the strength of character and inner strength that will become synonymous with her.

[Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the most believable murder mystery book I’ve ever read. If you’re into guns, you’ll enjoy the large amount of plot and story dedicated to ballistic evidence. If you aren’t, well, that sucks, because there’s a lot of it.

This was an interesting book to read because there were almost no chapters until the end that ended on a cliffhanger. Many were simply descriptions of how the protagonist Bill Gastner spent his days/nights cruising and being alone with his thoughts. Usually that would signal bad or boring writing, but I felt like it was again a very accurate portrayal of police work. Lots of waiting, waiting, and more waiting for something to turn up, or for the case to break, as Gastner says.

It felt more like a snapshot into the events described rather than a novel with one main narrative core, and for me, that worked.

Edit: There are definitely some cringey descriptions of women, too. It is written in the first-person, though, and other commenters have mentioned that Gastner is almost an anachronism from a bygone era, so maybe it can be forgiven.

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

It only took a single bullet to blow the brains out of Larry Zipoli, who was running a county road grader. But was that shot fired by an expert marksman, or was it a random accident? That's the question that Under Sheriff Bill Gastner has to answer in this novel. He is aided by a new deputy, Estelle Reyes, whose introduction at this point in the series is quite odd, given that she was prominently featured in earlier installments.

Gastner follows a number of leads, and gets involved in a lot of technical analysis of guns and bullets, and (of course) he finally apprehends the culprit, thereby answering the question posed above. The story is undemanding, and reasonably entertaining if you have some time on your hands. If you are new to the series, this would be a good starting point.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Undersheriff Bill Gastner is investigating the shooting of county employee Larry Zapoli. He is also tasked with interviewing a new hire, Estelle Reyes. He invites her to ride along and discovers that the recent graduate has an excellent temperament for the job. During the course of the investigation they stumble upon the possible theft of artwork from a church in a small Mexican town. I found this plot thread more interesting and wished the author had filled it out. The audiobook reader Rusty Nelson is superb; how I wish that they had kept him for the entire Posadas series.

[Charles T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent prequel giving Estelle’s beginning

This was my favorite book of the entire series so far, giving us the beginning of the story of Estelle Reyes small town Posadas policewoman and how she came to be Sheriff Bill Gastner’s trusted partner and friend . Was a tiny bit jarring at first with the first person narrative different than the earlier books but I ended up liking it a lot.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book that I have read from this author, and I enjoyed it very much. I found this series quite by accident and I like the description that was presented. I enjoyed the reader Ray Porter, who brought the characters to life. And even though it is a serious story there was a little dry humor thrown it. Which I thought made the series and now I want to listen to more.

[Dewey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this to get an introduction to this author, these characters and setting. So far, the writing is good. The mystery is interesting. The pace however is painfully slow. I kept putting the book down to read something else. Basically too many chapters of the under sheriff driving around at night philosophizing about the quiet night, exchanging small talk with residents. I will try one more in this series.

[Kit Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A step Back in Time

The last days of summer make teenagers restless. The man in the greater is found dead. Who wants this alcoholic dead? Not really anyone. There are lots of possible candidates but non really fit. You'll be surprised in the end. This chapter is from as different angle.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting mystery with multiple twists set in southwest US with no witnesses to the murder of a county road employee. Mixture of adult and juvenile relationships in small town America add to the suspense.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Different

The story is very different. Set in a small town in New Mexico, near the Mexican border, a town cross-border operator is found dead with a single shot to his head. I liked the thought process to find who shot him.

[Peg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great easy reading Havill

I know I’m not reading these in order but truly enjoy every one. Feel like I know the little town of Posados and each of the characters. Can’t wait until I get another enjoyable story.

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost didn't continue listening because of slow start, but once I became committed, I enjoyed it. Really want to read the one that follows this one, because there is one interesting plot thread that was left up in the air. Excellent reader!

[Russ Leavitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book in the series. Good storyline but the ending was way too abrupt. Just left me hanging there.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very different book. A laid back ride along with a murder investigation. Good characterization and a believable story.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

July 2019 Love the prequel!!!! Like being introduced to Estelle. Like the way Bill handled the primary plot.

[Sheila Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable mystery with realistic characters and plot. I most enjoyed reading about the interactions between the new hire and the old veteran.

[Kat Walter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing short of boring. I’m happy for the author that he is learned in gunsmithing, but that knowledge (ad nauseam) does not further the story and was painfully tedious to read.

[Denice Langley]

I've now read all of the Posadas County mystereis and the only negative I have is....I have now read all of the Posadas County mysteries. When is the next one?