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Bill Gastner Mystery #6
Prolonged Exposure
Savvy storytelling infused with a spicy Southwestern setting. "Not only does Havill offer a melancholy reinterpretation of that grand western myth of the slow-talking, fast-thinking lawman, he also writes crisp, marvelously detailed police procedurals in which a mix of technical know-how and informed common sense gets things done."― Booklist Bill Gastner is going crazy recuperating from heart surgery. Dreaming of green chili, he's rescued by a phone call from back home. The Undersheriff arrives in Posadas County only to learn that his own home has been burgled. Moreover, Gastner finds his cranky ancient neighbor Florencio Apodaca has borrowed a bit of land to bury his equally ancient wife―and the dead woman's stepson questions if she died a natural death. Meanwhile a young boy out camping has vanished from atop Cat Mesa. A stringent search convinces Bill, his treasured deputy Estelle Reyes-Guzman, and Sheriff Martin Holman that the boy has been spirited away. Poisoned Pen Press has republished the five earlier novels in Steven Havill's carefully, cleverly detailed police procedural series richly redolent of southern New Mexico.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
108 people are currently reading
154 people want to read
About the author
Steven F. Havill
38 books256 followersSteven 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
August 18, 2012
PROTAGONIST: Undersheriff Bill Gastner
SERIES: #6
SETTING: New Mexico
I'm loving the way Gastner's aging and health issues work into things. Alas, this plot was improbable and the investigation did not ring true. Still enough fun to keep me going, though.
SERIES: #6
SETTING: New Mexico
I'm loving the way Gastner's aging and health issues work into things. Alas, this plot was improbable and the investigation did not ring true. Still enough fun to keep me going, though.
July 18, 2019
This continues to be one of my favorite series. The setting is southern New Mexico, just a few miles north of the border with Mexico. In this one, Undersheriff Bill Gastner is recovering from heart surgery when a toddler goes missing in the wilderness near Posadas, and Estelle Reyes-Guzman, the deputy that Officer Gastner has learned to trust and lean on more than any other, is possible leaving.
August 31, 2012
I really enjoy Havill's books. His characters are very well-drawn; Undersheriff Gastner is a likeable man who is very good at what he does and also who doesn't take himself too seriously. Recovering from a "heart-event" he is supposed to be slowly easing into work again, but his house had been broken into while he was convalescing and a child is missing..... This book introduces us to his daughter Camille, who lives in Flint, MI, and who "has been in charge since she was two." Camille has accompanied her father home to get him settled and hand him back over to Dr Guzman.
October 14, 2021
Kept my interest but I wanted the end to wrap up a little tidier. I guess that's why its a good series because it leaves you wondering what happens next!
May 10, 2024
I love this series, and I can’t wait to get to the next installment here in perhaps July or sooner. It’s always a pleasure to read, and the characters change and develop from book to book such that you anticipate the next one.
One of the reasons I enjoy the series so much is that Undersheriff Bill Gastner reminds me of me, quite frankly. He’s old, fat, arthritic, and he eats stuff he knows will kill him, but things are how they are. I’d like to think I’d be great friends with this guy. In this book, we meet his daughter, Camille. She seems like a wonderful character, and it’s unfortunate that she lives so far away from the epicenter of these books. Gastner has gone to her house in Michigan where he also underwent some heart surgery. Camille, according to the author, has been bossing people around since she was two, so it made sense for her to seek to put Gastner's culinary life in order. He misses the green chiles and strong coffee that made up his normal life back home.
The doctors eventually clear him to go home. They load him up with medication and send him on his way. But life back home is anything but the tranquility he claims he wants. Someone has burgled his house, stealing precious documents and an old Civil War rifle he had purchased years earlier. He missed those documents badly. They included a framed picture of Camille’s mother—the only one Gastner had. You can imagine his sense of violation when he got home and found his stuff scattered on the floor and fingerprint powder everywhere.
Worse still, a demented old man who lives across the street buried his wife in a wooded area that belongs to Gastner. Gastner would later determine that someone murdered her.
Add to that the fact that a three-year-old boy is missing from a campground, and you can see the undersheriff has more on his plate than his old ticker should endure.
And then, there’s Estelle Reyes-Guzman, his trusted deputy and friend. She and Bill become convinced that the little boy isn’t on the mesa where his family reported him lost.
Things get incredibly personal when Estelle’s three-year-old son goes missing and is in the hands of the same people who took the other little boy.
It's a good idea to read this entire series. I can only attest to the excellence of the first six books, but book six is one of the best.
One of the reasons I enjoy the series so much is that Undersheriff Bill Gastner reminds me of me, quite frankly. He’s old, fat, arthritic, and he eats stuff he knows will kill him, but things are how they are. I’d like to think I’d be great friends with this guy. In this book, we meet his daughter, Camille. She seems like a wonderful character, and it’s unfortunate that she lives so far away from the epicenter of these books. Gastner has gone to her house in Michigan where he also underwent some heart surgery. Camille, according to the author, has been bossing people around since she was two, so it made sense for her to seek to put Gastner's culinary life in order. He misses the green chiles and strong coffee that made up his normal life back home.
The doctors eventually clear him to go home. They load him up with medication and send him on his way. But life back home is anything but the tranquility he claims he wants. Someone has burgled his house, stealing precious documents and an old Civil War rifle he had purchased years earlier. He missed those documents badly. They included a framed picture of Camille’s mother—the only one Gastner had. You can imagine his sense of violation when he got home and found his stuff scattered on the floor and fingerprint powder everywhere.
Worse still, a demented old man who lives across the street buried his wife in a wooded area that belongs to Gastner. Gastner would later determine that someone murdered her.
Add to that the fact that a three-year-old boy is missing from a campground, and you can see the undersheriff has more on his plate than his old ticker should endure.
And then, there’s Estelle Reyes-Guzman, his trusted deputy and friend. She and Bill become convinced that the little boy isn’t on the mesa where his family reported him lost.
Things get incredibly personal when Estelle’s three-year-old son goes missing and is in the hands of the same people who took the other little boy.
It's a good idea to read this entire series. I can only attest to the excellence of the first six books, but book six is one of the best.
August 8, 2021
This book begins with Undersheriff Bill Gastner of Posadas County, NM, in a situation which makes you think the book won't be so good - he's recuperating from heart surgery at his daughter's house in Michigan. But quickly events back home call Gastner - who's not a particularly good patient - back home, where he finds himself dealing with a missing child, a neighbor's wife buried on Gastner's property, and things that don't add up.
Havill has two great strengths as a writer. First, he writes procedural mysteries. Instead of the sleuth sitting in his chair (whether in Manhattan or London) and figuring it all out from two or three almost invisible clues - which is fun to read, but not all the time - Gastner and the rest of his department engage in real police work. They painstakingly preserve the scene, gather evidence, and reason from that evidence to the truth. I can't personally vouch for the accuracy of the procedure that Havill depicts, since I've never been a cop nor researched police methods, but if he's making it up, he's doing it so well that I believe it's how police forces actually operate.
And second, he makes Posadas county so real. There is in fact no such county in New Mexico. The towns and mountains and arroyos and businesses and people are all fictional. Yet Posadas County is more real, as you read Havill's descriptions of it, than whatever you see when you look out the window. I can "see" parts of Posadas County more clearly than I can see places I've been in Albuquerque dozens of times over the past 24 years.
I'd give this book 10 stars if Goodreads would let me.
Havill has two great strengths as a writer. First, he writes procedural mysteries. Instead of the sleuth sitting in his chair (whether in Manhattan or London) and figuring it all out from two or three almost invisible clues - which is fun to read, but not all the time - Gastner and the rest of his department engage in real police work. They painstakingly preserve the scene, gather evidence, and reason from that evidence to the truth. I can't personally vouch for the accuracy of the procedure that Havill depicts, since I've never been a cop nor researched police methods, but if he's making it up, he's doing it so well that I believe it's how police forces actually operate.
And second, he makes Posadas county so real. There is in fact no such county in New Mexico. The towns and mountains and arroyos and businesses and people are all fictional. Yet Posadas County is more real, as you read Havill's descriptions of it, than whatever you see when you look out the window. I can "see" parts of Posadas County more clearly than I can see places I've been in Albuquerque dozens of times over the past 24 years.
I'd give this book 10 stars if Goodreads would let me.
January 17, 2022
Yeah, so reading another Bill Gastner novel is like visiting an old friend. A grumpy one, but you know his heart is in the right place and there is bit more humor underneath that stoic demeanor he tries to maintain then he is willing to show. If you were to ask him about his abilities he'd probably say what abilities?, then give you a catalog of weaknesses like. old, slow, stubborn and too fat. But don't let it fool you and don't get fooled about the small town police dept either. Yeah, he's gonna be at the downtown cafe at least once a day with cup of coffee and likely a cheese burrito, no need to order, the waitress will just put it in front of him. And yeah, it's all slow and friendly like that, likeable people, but do something wrong, make a mistake their gonna figure it out. So show some respect and keep your nose clean.
December 30, 2019
Undersheriff Bill Gastner returns to Posadas County accompanied by his daughter Camille even though he has not fully recovered from bypass surgery. But the county is in an uproar because a three-year-old boy has vanished from the top of a nearby mesa. Along with a massive search party, Gastner’s chief and only detective, Estelle Reyes-Guzman, takes along her own three-year-old son Francisco. An excellent police procedural although one of the plot strands seems to get lost in all the excitement.
February 26, 2024
Prolonged Exposure – A Sheriff Bill Gastner Mystery - Published 1998 - **** - Undersheriff Bill Gastner is recuperating from heart surgery. Does he rest – only to the point of going stir crazy. Then his daughter can’t hold him back any longer. Some neighbor has buried his elderly wife on Gastner’s property. And a three year old boy vanishes while his parents are camping near Posadas. Gastner deals with both situations while trying (halfheartedly) to obey doctor’s orders. Great characters mixed into a small town and added to common sense police procedures make for a great read.
May 24, 2025
Prolonged Exposure by Steven F. Havill
While I enjoy Steven Havill's writing style which makes this reader feel she is once more in New Mexico, I was a bit disappointed that I knew who the kidnappers were early on and wondered why it took so long for our protagonists to figure it out. Otherwise, New Mexico descriptors are excellent and cooperation between local law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border is shown in a positive manner.
While I enjoy Steven Havill's writing style which makes this reader feel she is once more in New Mexico, I was a bit disappointed that I knew who the kidnappers were early on and wondered why it took so long for our protagonists to figure it out. Otherwise, New Mexico descriptors are excellent and cooperation between local law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border is shown in a positive manner.
October 24, 2020
Outstanding! Havill writes SO well and this series is stellar in every way. Character development is rich and skillfully done and I am so invested in the entire cast. Excellent plot, full of believable twists and the setting is almost a character too.
One of the best series going and I am really enjoying working my way through it.
One of the best series going and I am really enjoying working my way through it.
March 23, 2019
Review of Prolonged Exposure by Steven Havil
Top notch,5 star excitement. Another book in the series you can not put down. Havilland always keeps you wanting to rush to the next page. One of the best series I've ever read.
Top notch,5 star excitement. Another book in the series you can not put down. Havilland always keeps you wanting to rush to the next page. One of the best series I've ever read.
August 20, 2022
I enjoy these Bill Gastner mysteries by Steve F. Havall. The setting is rural Arizona. A lost child and burial on his property and a kidnapping all face undershariff Bill Gartner and his team. Great read!
January 20, 2023
Another good book in this series. Like I mentioned before, usually pretty good stories but even more, I really do like the characters. One of the things that is a negative to me would be when the author has parts of the book that just go on a little too long.
February 10, 2025
Parents With Other Plans
With a three year old you have to pay attention all the time. A huge search for a child turns into a man hunt. They're is an old lady buried in the back yard and a greedy step-son. Even in Posadas strange things happen.
With a three year old you have to pay attention all the time. A huge search for a child turns into a man hunt. They're is an old lady buried in the back yard and a greedy step-son. Even in Posadas strange things happen.
March 10, 2025
Excellent Story
As always, Havill creates a compelling story with many twists and turns. The author never lets the plot overwhelm the character development and settings which are the true strengths of the author. Recommended read.
As always, Havill creates a compelling story with many twists and turns. The author never lets the plot overwhelm the character development and settings which are the true strengths of the author. Recommended read.
June 29, 2018
One of the better books in this series ---- so far!
May 10, 2019
May 2019 I'd give this 3 stars for using kidnapping as a plot and 5 stars for terrific characters. So, averaging out = 4.
Reminder to self: for me, this is a one time read ONLY!
Reminder to self: for me, this is a one time read ONLY!
September 28, 2019
Under Sheriff Bill Gastner, recovering from carotid artery surgery, is thrust into a missing child investigation. The book was over too soon.
Read
December 5, 2019/Again, missed it the first time around for some reason. good read
February 27, 2020
Well-developed characters and a plot with enough twists and turns to keep things interesting.
June 3, 2020
Love this series!
September 13, 2020
Nice flow but not quite as high level as some of his other Bill Gastner novels.
January 3, 2021
Loved it!! Had no idea where this story was going and enjoyed the ride!! Still love Bill Gastner and am ready for what comes next!!
September 21, 2022
This book was really good. Very fast-paced and kept me on the edge.
April 28, 2023
Excellent as always
June 16, 2023
We finally get to meet one of the undersheriff’s kids!
July 29, 2023
Just really enjoy Steven Havill’s novels. They really could be taken from newspapers of today and the characters are just like real people.
April 20, 2024
3.5 not rounded
May 29, 2024
So many twists and turns. Loved it
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews