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Josie Gray Mysteries #5
Midnight Crossing
Police Chief Josie Gray wakes in the middle of the night, sure that she’s heard a car slowly passing by her remote homestead. When she goes outside to check, she discovers a woman, mute with shock and terror, hiding on her porch. And when she explores the field nearby, she comes across the body of another young woman, shot and killed.
Located on the border of Texas and Mexico, the small town of Artemis has become a way station for the coyotes who ferry immigrants across the Rio Grande. But the immigrants usually keep moving north, to cities where they can blend into the crowd and pass by unnoticed. Why would these women stick around in Artemis?
As Josie investigates the murder and tries to learn the identity of her uninvited houseguest, she discovers that not everyone in town has stayed out of the trafficking business, and someone may play a bigger role than she ever expected.
Tricia Fields’s Hillerman Prize-winning series captures the raw, natural beauty of West Texas and the tough, independent people who choose to live at the very edge of the country.
Located on the border of Texas and Mexico, the small town of Artemis has become a way station for the coyotes who ferry immigrants across the Rio Grande. But the immigrants usually keep moving north, to cities where they can blend into the crowd and pass by unnoticed. Why would these women stick around in Artemis?
As Josie investigates the murder and tries to learn the identity of her uninvited houseguest, she discovers that not everyone in town has stayed out of the trafficking business, and someone may play a bigger role than she ever expected.
Tricia Fields’s Hillerman Prize-winning series captures the raw, natural beauty of West Texas and the tough, independent people who choose to live at the very edge of the country.
306 pages, Hardcover
First published July 5, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 23, 2021
4 stars for another well done mystery by Tricia Fields. This is book 5 in the Josie Gray series, which has received plaudits from Craig Johnson, who also writes a mystery series set in a remote part of the US. Book 1 in the Josie Gray series won the Tony Hillerman prize. In this book, Josie finds a young woman cowering on her doorstep. Then she finds a body nearby. She starts an investigation with her 3 person Police Department. She is the Chief of Police in Artemis, a fictional town in the West Texas border desert country.
The investigation leads to a human trafficking ring and some shocking revelations. I recommend that you read this series in order, as there are developments in Josie's personal life that continue through the series. Both my wife and I enjoy this series. There is very little violence and few bad words, so it would be acceptable for cozy mystery fans. I liked the satisfying ending.
I read this library book in 3 days.
The investigation leads to a human trafficking ring and some shocking revelations. I recommend that you read this series in order, as there are developments in Josie's personal life that continue through the series. Both my wife and I enjoy this series. There is very little violence and few bad words, so it would be acceptable for cozy mystery fans. I liked the satisfying ending.
I read this library book in 3 days.
February 5, 2017
Police Chief Josie Gray and Officer Otto battling border crimes on the Tex/Mex border. This is I believe book 5 in the author's series coming from southwest Texas. I had not read the previous books in this series but this book can be easily picked up without reading the previous installments. This entry involves human trafficking, women being brought into the States not from Mexico but Guatemala via Mexico. In the process of a "shipment" of 5 women they are raped and treated cruely, not necessarily getting what their families had paid for. Josie finds a young scared woman in the middle of the night on her property along with another young woman laying dead face down in a nearby pasture who had been shot in the back. Josie and Otto work with several different law agencies including sheriff's, FBI and Border Patrol to try to solve number one who is behind this trafficking scheme and two, who murdered the young woman. Josie and Otto discover a local resident that no one would ever suspect to be possibly involved which might just shock the whole community. Those that like police procedure books, fiction crime/mystery and southwest settings will enjoy this one. I just had one question at the end of the book and that would be why when authorities have someone in custody under investigation and their vehicle impounded why would the vehicle not be searched as it sat in impounded during an ongoing investigation. Otherwise a 3 1/2 star rating.
July 27, 2016
Josie and Artemis see justice served again
Ms. Fields gives us plenty to think about as Josie, Otto, and Marta work through connecting the dots; it definitely did not lead where I expected. This wasn't a car-chase type of book. It is threaded with the inner conversation of Josie's self-doubt and Otto and his wife working out their future. We get more of the Artemis community, some of whom I hope will return.
Ms. Fields has a writing style that is flexible. As needed, she can shift from the tense, dry summer night subtly to the matter of fact of the station, to the adrenaline of confronting dangerous folks, with her voice changing ever so slightly to reinforce it. While each of her books stand on their own, I recommend the entire series.
Ms. Fields gives us plenty to think about as Josie, Otto, and Marta work through connecting the dots; it definitely did not lead where I expected. This wasn't a car-chase type of book. It is threaded with the inner conversation of Josie's self-doubt and Otto and his wife working out their future. We get more of the Artemis community, some of whom I hope will return.
Ms. Fields has a writing style that is flexible. As needed, she can shift from the tense, dry summer night subtly to the matter of fact of the station, to the adrenaline of confronting dangerous folks, with her voice changing ever so slightly to reinforce it. While each of her books stand on their own, I recommend the entire series.
September 12, 2016
This story is as one ripped from today's headlines - young women being trafficked across international borders to start a "better" life in the United States. Whatever could go wrong with that scenario? This book covers it all.
Fifth book in the (Police Chief) Josie Gray mystery series, this story pulls hard on the heartstrings. It is late at night; Josie hears a noise outside her remote desert home; she investigates; discovers bedraggled woman cowering on Josie's porch. So many questions yet the woman is traumatized and mute. In the light of day, another woman's body is found in the scrub brush near Josie's home. These women's stories must somehow be related but what is that story and how can Josie get to the bottom of what's going on in her precinct.
Author Tricia Fields spins a good and believable yarn. Excellent prose writing and sustained suspense throughout with a rush to the climax at the end. Definitely worth the read.
I am grateful to author Tricia Fields, St. Martin's Press and Criminal Element Early Reader's Program for having provided a free copy of this book. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone.
Fifth book in the (Police Chief) Josie Gray mystery series, this story pulls hard on the heartstrings. It is late at night; Josie hears a noise outside her remote desert home; she investigates; discovers bedraggled woman cowering on Josie's porch. So many questions yet the woman is traumatized and mute. In the light of day, another woman's body is found in the scrub brush near Josie's home. These women's stories must somehow be related but what is that story and how can Josie get to the bottom of what's going on in her precinct.
Author Tricia Fields spins a good and believable yarn. Excellent prose writing and sustained suspense throughout with a rush to the climax at the end. Definitely worth the read.
I am grateful to author Tricia Fields, St. Martin's Press and Criminal Element Early Reader's Program for having provided a free copy of this book. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone.
July 5, 2023
Josie’s judgment is not the best in this installment. She’s dealing with a misogynistic mayor who seizes on any minor issue to hurl his scorn upon her. Human trafficking and murder come to town and Josie wonders if it’s because of her past battles with the cartel. Plus Josie’s mother shows up in town uninvited. But the perps are all hiding in plain sight and there’s an Albuquerque connection. Lots of twists and some pleasant surprises that could make life easier for Josie after she’s been unfairly tarnished.
May 12, 2021
Tricia Fields is a treasure. As is her protagonist, Police Chief Josie Gray.
January 12, 2022
Josie finds a girl outside her house, which leads her to a sex trafficking ring. Done by high placed officials of the town which causes problems. I really enjoyed this book, better than the first ones.
October 14, 2022
3.5
Thank god for these books honestly. Any time I'm in a reading slump I pick one up. This one had a tighter plot than Wrecked. I didn't actually read the fourth novel as this one interested me more. Good novels when you're not sure what else to do with your afternoon. I started with Scratchgravel Road, which worked fine as a standalone novel and Midnight Crossing would as well, though you may want to test out an earlier novel before going directly to this one as it's the final novel.
Thank god for these books honestly. Any time I'm in a reading slump I pick one up. This one had a tighter plot than Wrecked. I didn't actually read the fourth novel as this one interested me more. Good novels when you're not sure what else to do with your afternoon. I started with Scratchgravel Road, which worked fine as a standalone novel and Midnight Crossing would as well, though you may want to test out an earlier novel before going directly to this one as it's the final novel.
July 29, 2019
I forgot to read this one in the series and oh how I enjoyed it. Hope there is another one in the works but it has been a while since this was published, 2016, so I think maybe not. Good series though so be sure to try it.
May 10, 2020
I like the main characters quite a bit in this series. There are some pretty serious holes in the plot and the whodunit factor was gone fairly early but I still found it enjoyable. The author finds some subtle ways to insert her politics into the story which is fine by me but I'm sure some object.
July 16, 2022
Tricia Fields has done it again. Her writing style is extremely engaging and always has last minutes twists and turns in solving crimes. The relationships between the characters and the realistic police work make each story believable. Can’t wait to read her next book!
October 25, 2021
The third book about Josie Gray. I am eagerly waiting for more.
May 31, 2022
Very good read, mystery and climax
October 9, 2016
It is night as the fifth book in the series, Midnight Crossing, begins and Police Chief Josie Gray is at her isolated home on Schenck road outside of Artemis, Texas. Nobody should ever be on that road unless they are visiting her or her neighbor Dell who has his own place just behind hers. Nobody should be out there at two in the morning on this October night. Yet there is a car with its lights off moving by the outside of the house.
When it happens again the next night at about the same time, she knows something is going on in the desolated land surrounding her home. This time she has backup as Nick Santos has spent the night. A kidnapping negotiator, he knows guns, the cartels, and more and shares Gray’s concerns about the vehicle moving by her home. They go outside to see why the vehicle is once again slowly moving by her house without its lights.
After it leaves into the darkness, they hear something on her porch. They soon find a clearly terrified woman hiding on Gray’s porch. Most likely, she came across the nearby border in this Big Bend region of deep southwest Texas. What happened to her and why is a story that she is nowhere ready to tell. The dead woman in the nearby field can’t tell Artemis Police Chief Josie Cray anything either.
Those two women are just one of several mysteries at work in Midnight Crossing by Tricia Fields. This excellent series began with The Territory and continues here with another excellent installment. Filled with numerous detailed characters, a complex mystery, and an obvious appreciation for the desert beauty of far southwest Texas, Midnight Crossing is another very good read in a very good series that evolves book to book
Midnight Crossing: A Mystery
Tricia Fields
http://www.triciafields.com
A Thomas Dunne Book (Minotaur Books)
http://www.minotaurbooks.com
2016
ISBN# 978-1-250-07628-1
Hardback (eBook available)
310 Pages
$26.99
Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2016
When it happens again the next night at about the same time, she knows something is going on in the desolated land surrounding her home. This time she has backup as Nick Santos has spent the night. A kidnapping negotiator, he knows guns, the cartels, and more and shares Gray’s concerns about the vehicle moving by her home. They go outside to see why the vehicle is once again slowly moving by her house without its lights.
After it leaves into the darkness, they hear something on her porch. They soon find a clearly terrified woman hiding on Gray’s porch. Most likely, she came across the nearby border in this Big Bend region of deep southwest Texas. What happened to her and why is a story that she is nowhere ready to tell. The dead woman in the nearby field can’t tell Artemis Police Chief Josie Cray anything either.
Those two women are just one of several mysteries at work in Midnight Crossing by Tricia Fields. This excellent series began with The Territory and continues here with another excellent installment. Filled with numerous detailed characters, a complex mystery, and an obvious appreciation for the desert beauty of far southwest Texas, Midnight Crossing is another very good read in a very good series that evolves book to book
Midnight Crossing: A Mystery
Tricia Fields
http://www.triciafields.com
A Thomas Dunne Book (Minotaur Books)
http://www.minotaurbooks.com
2016
ISBN# 978-1-250-07628-1
Hardback (eBook available)
310 Pages
$26.99
Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2016
July 3, 2016
Midnight Crossing is the fifth book in the Josie Gray Mystery series by author Tricia Fields. This is the first book of Fields that I have read. I was impressed that she had won the Tony Hillerman prize for the first book in the series, The Territory.
For some reason I like to read books set on the border of the US and Mexico. You know there is going to be conflict and drama. Midnight Crossing did not disappoint. Police Chief Josie Gray lives in a remote area of Texas near the border. One night, after hearing a car drive slowly along her remote road, she finds a terrified young woman on her porch. Then there is the young dead woman in her field.
Josie soon discovers there is more going on in her small town of Artemis than she had realized. As she and her team try to find the truth, Josie discovers that evil has infiltrated all social levels in Artemis.
Midnight Crossing is well written and evenly paced. I liked the setting and the characters. It did not matter that I had not read the earlier 4 books in the series.
Highly recommend Midnight Crossing.
For some reason I like to read books set on the border of the US and Mexico. You know there is going to be conflict and drama. Midnight Crossing did not disappoint. Police Chief Josie Gray lives in a remote area of Texas near the border. One night, after hearing a car drive slowly along her remote road, she finds a terrified young woman on her porch. Then there is the young dead woman in her field.
Josie soon discovers there is more going on in her small town of Artemis than she had realized. As she and her team try to find the truth, Josie discovers that evil has infiltrated all social levels in Artemis.
Midnight Crossing is well written and evenly paced. I liked the setting and the characters. It did not matter that I had not read the earlier 4 books in the series.
Highly recommend Midnight Crossing.
July 6, 2016
What a terrific mystery novel set in the Southwest desert. I've read other books in this series but not all of them- and you don't need to in order to appreciate the care Fields has taken not only with the plot but also with the characters. What sets this apart from others in the genre are the small details, such as Otto's fondness for his wife Delores' cabbage balls, Dell's threadbare t-shirts, and Beverly's clothes. Nick is a love interest but he's really a small player here. The plot is topical, the villian(s) surprising, and all in all- this is a fast paced entertaining read. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC- thumbs up! I'm going to make sure to look for more books by Fields.
July 26, 2016
Josie Gray is the police chief in the tiny west Texas town of Artemis. Because of the proximity to the border with Mexico, smuggling and illegal border crossings abound. In addition, Josie faces the hostility of the mayor-who dislikes women in police work-and the unwanted visit of her mother.
When a dead woman is found in the pasture next to Josie's home, and a second woman is found hiding on Josie's porch, the smuggling of women to work as virtual slaves becomes Josie's focus.
Excellent police work with several surprising plot twists make this story worth reading.
I look forward to the next Josie Gray novel.
When a dead woman is found in the pasture next to Josie's home, and a second woman is found hiding on Josie's porch, the smuggling of women to work as virtual slaves becomes Josie's focus.
Excellent police work with several surprising plot twists make this story worth reading.
I look forward to the next Josie Gray novel.
July 5, 2016
While Midnight Crossing is the 5th book in the Josie Gray series, you don't have to read the first 4 to fully enjoy this one :)
Josie Gray has heard of and seen some unusual things going on in her town and now the Police Chief is pulled into a murder and missing woman case that is going to go in unexpected directions.
Midnight Crossing is a fast paced story that has quite a few twists and turns which make it a very enjoyable read!
Josie Gray has heard of and seen some unusual things going on in her town and now the Police Chief is pulled into a murder and missing woman case that is going to go in unexpected directions.
Midnight Crossing is a fast paced story that has quite a few twists and turns which make it a very enjoyable read!
August 6, 2016
The Josie Gray mysteries by Tricia Fields are always a pleasure to read. I love the West Texas setting and the way the author makes the desert sound beautiful and peaceful. Josie is Chief of Police of a small town and I enjoy the fact that she is a strong leader and flawed human, all in one package. This was the latest installment in the police adventures of Josie Gray and I was not disappointed. I loved every minute of it.
November 1, 2016
Next title in the Josie Gray police chief of small Chihauhauan desert Texas border town murder mystery series. Keeping it topical this one includes human trafficking, corrupt public officials, border crossings into Mexico and long road trips to Albuquerque. The human interest side of the series continues to develop with a love interest for Josie and her relationship with her mother being the side bar stories. Quick, easy read genre fiction where setting is the main appeal to me.
September 14, 2016
A very interesting addition to the Josie Grey series. Not as suspenseful as some of the other books in the series but still a good read. Josie is maturing as a person and starting a relationship with her mother and a deeper love interest then her previous boyfriend. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil the story.
September 4, 2016
This series gets better and better. Interesting and realistic characters. The plot of this one was exciting, extremely suspenseful, with a great ending. I couldn't put it down.
July 9, 2016
I'm a huge Tricia Fields fan and this book did not disappoint. I liked the plot and thought the characters well developed with good dialogue.
July 25, 2016
This takes place in Texas in the town of Artemis on the border murder trafficking with character Chief Josie Gray
August 2, 2016
easily read police mystery that isn't full of military jargon - enjoyed the characters and the theme
November 6, 2016
Picked up a random mystery. Number 5 in the series. Following the story was no problem. I might read more of the series if the library has them.
December 14, 2017
Great story!
The story and the characters are well developed. The plot is not a formula that is easy to predict. Well worth reading! Can't wait to enjoy the author's other works.
The story and the characters are well developed. The plot is not a formula that is easy to predict. Well worth reading! Can't wait to enjoy the author's other works.
January 3, 2017
Enjoyed the book but kind of dragging.
April 27, 2017
Loved this installment in a great series! In this one, Josie becomes embolden in the human trafficking business going on along the Texas/Mexico border. She discovers that her town may have some strong ties to the trafficking business as she tries to discover the identity of a woman she discovered hiding on her property.
This one had an engrossing storyline, and I love Josie and her friends and colleagues.
This one had an engrossing storyline, and I love Josie and her friends and colleagues.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews