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National Park Mystery #10
Great Sand Dunes Massacre: A National Park Mystery
Some grudges run so deep they can kill.
Archeologist Chuck Bender witnesses a mysterious death while conducting a survey at Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Park. But when local law enforcement declare the the death an accident, Chuck will stop at nothing to find the truth. With his daughter Rosie attending a summer film program nearby, Chuck discovers a series of mysterious artifacts that threaten even more bloodshed. Is a killer quietly stalking the park? Could the film students be the next target? And why does no one seem to care about the young man whose death started it all? Together, Chuck and Rosie must unravel a web of deception and deceit—before one death turns into a massacre.
Archeologist Chuck Bender witnesses a mysterious death while conducting a survey at Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Park. But when local law enforcement declare the the death an accident, Chuck will stop at nothing to find the truth. With his daughter Rosie attending a summer film program nearby, Chuck discovers a series of mysterious artifacts that threaten even more bloodshed. Is a killer quietly stalking the park? Could the film students be the next target? And why does no one seem to care about the young man whose death started it all? Together, Chuck and Rosie must unravel a web of deception and deceit—before one death turns into a massacre.
- GenresMystery
Audible Audio
Published June 2, 2026
About the author
Scott Graham
102 books77 followersScott Graham is author of Canyon Sacrifice: A National Park Mystery and Extreme Kids (winner of the National Outdoor Book Award). He is an avid outdoorsman and amateur archaeologist who enjoys hunting, rock climbing, skiing, backpacking, mountaineering, river rafting, and whitewater kayaking with his wife, an emergency physician, and their two sons. Graham lives in Durango, Colorado.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 13, 2026
This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The National Park Mystery series continues to improve as it goes along. I still enjoy the park settings, the mysteries, the archeology and the family growth and character development. These last two installments also have timely topics which are very relevant.
Chuck and Janelle and the two daughters, Carmelita and Rosie, are much more of a tight family now. Chuck is an archeologist who does work at National Park sites. Chuck Bender is in his early 50s in good shape. Janelle is a paramedic. She is not as present in these two books. The girls are now teens and showing skill in their chosen activities.
Now it is Rosie's turn to be in the spotlight. She gained quite a following as she filmed Carmelita's adventures and did some other little documentaries about people. In Great Sand Dune Massacre, she goes to the Top Film camp. The camp is run by a famous Hollywood director. Chuck, naturally gets a job in the park to survey. He finds some items of significance.
Rosie is really knowledgeable and focused on her film. It's based on the story of a young man named Luke, who died nearby the park. Chuck was there when it happened a couple months ago. She talked at length with Luke's parents and developed a film with his story.
Rosie is also smart and works hard to make her film interesting and emotionally impactful. They make short clips which are shown in an event at the end of the camp session. Unfortunately, the director's son takes a shine to Rosie and tries to get her to skip out and fool around with him. I was so glad she was flattered but unwilling to move her focus from her film.
Chuck finds artifacts in his survey from events where indigenous people were massacred. He finds them, then even if he has brought them to show Frank, the park executive, they disappear and end up buried back in specific areas. Eventually Chuck finds all the items and figures out their purpose.
Meanwhile, the students went out one day to do some filming, when the weather was coming and one was killed by lightning. Chuck tries to keep an even closer eye on Rosie. Things come to a head at the end session show of all the films when Chuck finally puts things together.
I enjoy these stories with the park settings, the archeology, and the other interesting things I learn a bit about such as filmography here. The main characters are good people and it's fun to watch the girls grow.
Narration:
Joel Richards is the narrator for this series. The primary voice and thoughts were Chuck and he certainly became Chuck for me. The girls have fairly distinct tones and the performance is enjoyable. . I was able to listen at my newer 1.75x speed.
Listen to a clip HERE
Review copy was received from the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The National Park Mystery series continues to improve as it goes along. I still enjoy the park settings, the mysteries, the archeology and the family growth and character development. These last two installments also have timely topics which are very relevant.
Chuck and Janelle and the two daughters, Carmelita and Rosie, are much more of a tight family now. Chuck is an archeologist who does work at National Park sites. Chuck Bender is in his early 50s in good shape. Janelle is a paramedic. She is not as present in these two books. The girls are now teens and showing skill in their chosen activities.
Now it is Rosie's turn to be in the spotlight. She gained quite a following as she filmed Carmelita's adventures and did some other little documentaries about people. In Great Sand Dune Massacre, she goes to the Top Film camp. The camp is run by a famous Hollywood director. Chuck, naturally gets a job in the park to survey. He finds some items of significance.
Rosie is really knowledgeable and focused on her film. It's based on the story of a young man named Luke, who died nearby the park. Chuck was there when it happened a couple months ago. She talked at length with Luke's parents and developed a film with his story.
Rosie is also smart and works hard to make her film interesting and emotionally impactful. They make short clips which are shown in an event at the end of the camp session. Unfortunately, the director's son takes a shine to Rosie and tries to get her to skip out and fool around with him. I was so glad she was flattered but unwilling to move her focus from her film.
Chuck finds artifacts in his survey from events where indigenous people were massacred. He finds them, then even if he has brought them to show Frank, the park executive, they disappear and end up buried back in specific areas. Eventually Chuck finds all the items and figures out their purpose.
Meanwhile, the students went out one day to do some filming, when the weather was coming and one was killed by lightning. Chuck tries to keep an even closer eye on Rosie. Things come to a head at the end session show of all the films when Chuck finally puts things together.
I enjoy these stories with the park settings, the archeology, and the other interesting things I learn a bit about such as filmography here. The main characters are good people and it's fun to watch the girls grow.
Narration:
Joel Richards is the narrator for this series. The primary voice and thoughts were Chuck and he certainly became Chuck for me. The girls have fairly distinct tones and the performance is enjoyable. . I was able to listen at my newer 1.75x speed.
Listen to a clip HERE
June 8, 2026
I picked this up at an independent book store in Durango on my way to visit Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was fun to read a book about the park while I was there. The descriptions of local geography, weather phenomena, history, etc are interesting and make this book unique. As a Coloradan, I enjoyed them. Providing these facts through dialogue is awkward though—the characters sound like they’re delivering a rehearsed lecture or working as a tour guide instead of having a normal conversation. Having a narrator give the background info would work better. The dialogue between the teen characters was a bit off, too. The plot had some good mystery/thriller elements but the way it all came together didn’t really work for me. It also was really repetitive at times.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews