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National Park Mystery #5
Arches Enemy
A famed sandstone arch in Utah’s Arches National Park collapses and takes a woman atop it to her death, ensnaring archaeologist Chuck Bender and his family in lethal questions of environmental monkeywrenching and political intrigue. As more deaths follow, Chuck and his wife Janelle race to uncover the killer even as they become murder targets themselves.
278 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 11, 2019
118 people are currently reading
160 people want to read
About the author
Scott Graham
95 books73 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 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 16, 2022
Another park, another mystery. Arches Enemy by Scott Graham is the last book I had to read to be up to date about Chuck Bender and his family before book 8 is out later this year. This time we get to know a lot about Chucks background and about his mother. The mystery is somewhat dim but still a good story. Once again we never really get to know if he finishes his job and the result of his study in the park. I would like more information about the different parks. Still it was a few hours spent travelling from my reading chair and that is always good.
September 24, 2024
The plot line and characters were a 2.5 star for me, but having just visited Arches, I loved all the landscape and scenery in the story.
April 8, 2023
I picked up this book in a bookshop in Moab and it was a really good read for people who have visited the area. Landscape Arch collapses at the start of the book. Was it sabotage or the result of evil oil companies drilling nearby? The issues of environmental protection and indigenous people are outlined heavily in the book alongside some murders. An easy read for a tourist.
September 1, 2024
Good one forgot to write a review
April 8, 2025
A very good National Park Mystery.
June 25, 2023
The characters bored me; they’re all one-sided and stereotypes are heavily played on in their development. The perspective on mental health issues was also very tone-deaf.
July 16, 2019
Chuck Bender, an archaeologist working in U.S. national parks, manages to find not only Native American artifacts, but also murders during his digs. In ARCHES ENEMY, in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah, Chuck, his wife, and his two step-daughters are living in a camper trailer in Devil's Garden Campground while he works on surveying and documenting cave paintings that could change the historical narrative concerning early Native communities. Shortly after their arrival, one of the nearby arches falls, killing a woman who was (against Park regulations) on top of it.
There is a strong environmental theme to this book, as an oil and gas company has been allowed to search just outside of the Park. Searching involves using huge "thumper" trucks, causing mini-earthquakes, and it is one of these trucks that is presumed to be the cause of the arch's shattering and the woman's death. If that were the end of it, the investigation would be over quickly and Chuck could get back to his work. However, within the next 48 hours, there are two more deaths.
Chuck finds himself right in the middle of the investigation, given his relationship with the chief ranger at the Park. In addition, Chuck's long-estranged mother has set herself up as a "seer" in Moab, and she attempts to insinuate herself into his new family. He senses that she is somehow involved in the events surrounding the deaths, but she is hard to pin down and clarity doesn't come until the end of the book.
The writing about Native American history and the possible meaning of the cave art is poignant and compelling. Descriptions of the landscape make the desert come alive, and Graham has a way of drawing a clear picture of both setting and characters quickly so that the reader is drawn into the story and cares about the people almost immediately. The environmental message is clear, as Chuck sometimes loses his temper and is quick to cast blame on the oil and gas workers. For someone who has visited Arches National Park and recognizes its fragile beauty and importance, this message is frightening. Graham also captures the small moments in family life, and Chuck's hot-headedness as he attempts to deal with his teenage step-daughter rings true.
ARCHES ENEMY is Graham's 5th National Park Mystery. Like the others before it, it can be read as a stand-alone but benefits from a longer relationship with the characters. The book jacket contains superlatives from many writers about the great outdoors and the American Southwest, including Craig Johnson, Anne Hillerman, Margaret Coel, and William Kent Krueger. These are good indications of what the reader will find between the covers. I look forward to each new book in the series as it is published, and now have MESA VERDE VICTIM, projected for June 2020, to anxiously anticipate.
This review first appeared at reviewingtheevidence.com
There is a strong environmental theme to this book, as an oil and gas company has been allowed to search just outside of the Park. Searching involves using huge "thumper" trucks, causing mini-earthquakes, and it is one of these trucks that is presumed to be the cause of the arch's shattering and the woman's death. If that were the end of it, the investigation would be over quickly and Chuck could get back to his work. However, within the next 48 hours, there are two more deaths.
Chuck finds himself right in the middle of the investigation, given his relationship with the chief ranger at the Park. In addition, Chuck's long-estranged mother has set herself up as a "seer" in Moab, and she attempts to insinuate herself into his new family. He senses that she is somehow involved in the events surrounding the deaths, but she is hard to pin down and clarity doesn't come until the end of the book.
The writing about Native American history and the possible meaning of the cave art is poignant and compelling. Descriptions of the landscape make the desert come alive, and Graham has a way of drawing a clear picture of both setting and characters quickly so that the reader is drawn into the story and cares about the people almost immediately. The environmental message is clear, as Chuck sometimes loses his temper and is quick to cast blame on the oil and gas workers. For someone who has visited Arches National Park and recognizes its fragile beauty and importance, this message is frightening. Graham also captures the small moments in family life, and Chuck's hot-headedness as he attempts to deal with his teenage step-daughter rings true.
ARCHES ENEMY is Graham's 5th National Park Mystery. Like the others before it, it can be read as a stand-alone but benefits from a longer relationship with the characters. The book jacket contains superlatives from many writers about the great outdoors and the American Southwest, including Craig Johnson, Anne Hillerman, Margaret Coel, and William Kent Krueger. These are good indications of what the reader will find between the covers. I look forward to each new book in the series as it is published, and now have MESA VERDE VICTIM, projected for June 2020, to anxiously anticipate.
This review first appeared at reviewingtheevidence.com
June 26, 2019
I’m a fan of Scott Graham’s National Park Mystery series, but “Arches Enemy” isn’t my favorite book. Its story seems contrived and heavy handed, and the scope of the action is narrow, despite an awesome setting.
Characters we’ve met in previous novels are ripening, but those introduced here seem implausible—driven to make odd choices by a bizarre plot. Honestly, they just seem stupid.
“Arches Enemy” remains highly readable, however, and Graham does develop a villain we’re likely to see much more of in the future. And, fortunately, there are many more national parks for Chuck, Janell, and kids to visit.
Characters we’ve met in previous novels are ripening, but those introduced here seem implausible—driven to make odd choices by a bizarre plot. Honestly, they just seem stupid.
“Arches Enemy” remains highly readable, however, and Graham does develop a villain we’re likely to see much more of in the future. And, fortunately, there are many more national parks for Chuck, Janell, and kids to visit.
February 25, 2024
In this fifth episode of the mystery series, the Bender/Ortega clan visits (obviously) Arches national park. Though it is only thinly discussed in the book, I'm assuming that the enemy portion of the name derives from the deprecated Anasazi term for the Ancestral Puebloans frequently featured in Graham's novels, a name that as revealed in the novel means "ancient enemy."
I disagree with other reviewers who view the characters as flat or undeveloped. In particular, we're introduced to Sheila in this installment, who we learn pretty quickly to be Scott's mother. Graham, in my opinion, does a great job of building out her character, and helping us to understand Bender's disdain for his mother, both through stories about experiences in his childhood and her behavior throughout the novel. If you are reading this book on its own without having read the prior four novels, I do think that there's much less development Chuck, Jan, and the kids; and virtually no development of Clarence's character, and unlike other sequels in the series, this one definitely benefits from having read the prior installments.
I concur with the other reviewers have identified certain elements of the book that leave us scratching our heads in terms of behaviors and plausibility / realism. While Sheila's character is very relatable (though not in a good way), the behaviors of many of the other characters sometimes reach beyond believability and are so out there that it somewhat interferes with the development of the story.
One element of these novels that has begun to be an improvement area that I didn't realize in the first reading of some of the later novels (including #6, Mesa Verde Victim) is that I have become discontented with not being able to know the outcome of the various contracts / projects that Chuck is engaged to perform that places him in the parks in each of the installments. This one is even more mystifying, as at the very beginning, it is simply referred to as a contract with no further explanation. It was so unnerving that I kept going back to see if I had overlooked information about the contract. Eventually we learn that the nature of the contract is a secret, and get greater color on its purpose and the work to be done (and to a certain extent the initial stages of the work), but the esoteric and confidential nature of the contract could have been revealed earlier. And the lack of closure on it leaves the reader wanting more (at least this reader).
All that said, this novel, as all of Graham's novels, is highly readable; I can almost always read in one extended session over several hours, and I did not find this mystery's ending predictable. If history, geography, and mystery are all of interest, this is an excellent, enjoyable read. While the conclusion was not at all believable, I'm hoping that it sets us up for the return of some of the marginal characters in future installments.
Four stars for this installment. Re-reading Mesa Verde Victim next (the book that introduced me to this author).
I disagree with other reviewers who view the characters as flat or undeveloped. In particular, we're introduced to Sheila in this installment, who we learn pretty quickly to be Scott's mother. Graham, in my opinion, does a great job of building out her character, and helping us to understand Bender's disdain for his mother, both through stories about experiences in his childhood and her behavior throughout the novel. If you are reading this book on its own without having read the prior four novels, I do think that there's much less development Chuck, Jan, and the kids; and virtually no development of Clarence's character, and unlike other sequels in the series, this one definitely benefits from having read the prior installments.
I concur with the other reviewers have identified certain elements of the book that leave us scratching our heads in terms of behaviors and plausibility / realism. While Sheila's character is very relatable (though not in a good way), the behaviors of many of the other characters sometimes reach beyond believability and are so out there that it somewhat interferes with the development of the story.
One element of these novels that has begun to be an improvement area that I didn't realize in the first reading of some of the later novels (including #6, Mesa Verde Victim) is that I have become discontented with not being able to know the outcome of the various contracts / projects that Chuck is engaged to perform that places him in the parks in each of the installments. This one is even more mystifying, as at the very beginning, it is simply referred to as a contract with no further explanation. It was so unnerving that I kept going back to see if I had overlooked information about the contract. Eventually we learn that the nature of the contract is a secret, and get greater color on its purpose and the work to be done (and to a certain extent the initial stages of the work), but the esoteric and confidential nature of the contract could have been revealed earlier. And the lack of closure on it leaves the reader wanting more (at least this reader).
All that said, this novel, as all of Graham's novels, is highly readable; I can almost always read in one extended session over several hours, and I did not find this mystery's ending predictable. If history, geography, and mystery are all of interest, this is an excellent, enjoyable read. While the conclusion was not at all believable, I'm hoping that it sets us up for the return of some of the marginal characters in future installments.
Four stars for this installment. Re-reading Mesa Verde Victim next (the book that introduced me to this author).
February 13, 2020
Great setting and treatment of environmental issues, plot and characters a bit weak...
I had not heard of Scott Graham’s National Park mystery series until recently, when I was given a chance to read an ARC of the latest title, Arches Enemy. I’ve always been fascinated by the archaeology of the American Southwest (my dad’s family comes from New Mexico) and so I was very willing to be entertained by a mystery set in a region I love, and with an archaeologist as the main protagonist. Unfortunately, Arches Enemy underperforms a little bit in my opinion.
First – the good stuff… Arches Enemy is set in Arches National Park/Moab and the book provides really nice descriptions evocative of the area. The author seems to know the region, and as far as I could tell from an amateur’s viewpoint, most of the archaeology seemed consistent with what I’ve seen in various museums and read about in various non-fiction books.
In addition, from what I’ve read in newspapers and magazines about the subject of land use in the West, Arches Enemy also seems to do a pretty good job of describing the tensions between various groups (indigenous peoples, oil/gas companies, mountain bikers/recreational park users, locals) that have been exacerbated by the current federal administration’s efforts to reduce or eliminate the size/protections for federal moments in the Southwest. So the initial take on the plot itself (don’t want to be a spoiler, so being vague here) seems pretty credible.
Unfortunately, the book then spins off into what appeared to me to be a different, less credible track. And, I also had issues with many of the characters in the book. I just couldn’t see them and their behavior as authentic – I had a lot of trouble imagining folks behaving the way they did. So I kept getting pulled out of the plot by my disbelief, which was kind of distracting.
All-in-all, I did enjoy the book, primarily due to its setting, but didn’t feel it was strong enough to receive my normal rating of four stars. (I keep five stars for a few truly awesome read-over-and-over-again books.) So it gets a three-star rating from me instead.
My thanks again to the publisher and to Edelweiss for the ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.
I had not heard of Scott Graham’s National Park mystery series until recently, when I was given a chance to read an ARC of the latest title, Arches Enemy. I’ve always been fascinated by the archaeology of the American Southwest (my dad’s family comes from New Mexico) and so I was very willing to be entertained by a mystery set in a region I love, and with an archaeologist as the main protagonist. Unfortunately, Arches Enemy underperforms a little bit in my opinion.
First – the good stuff… Arches Enemy is set in Arches National Park/Moab and the book provides really nice descriptions evocative of the area. The author seems to know the region, and as far as I could tell from an amateur’s viewpoint, most of the archaeology seemed consistent with what I’ve seen in various museums and read about in various non-fiction books.
In addition, from what I’ve read in newspapers and magazines about the subject of land use in the West, Arches Enemy also seems to do a pretty good job of describing the tensions between various groups (indigenous peoples, oil/gas companies, mountain bikers/recreational park users, locals) that have been exacerbated by the current federal administration’s efforts to reduce or eliminate the size/protections for federal moments in the Southwest. So the initial take on the plot itself (don’t want to be a spoiler, so being vague here) seems pretty credible.
Unfortunately, the book then spins off into what appeared to me to be a different, less credible track. And, I also had issues with many of the characters in the book. I just couldn’t see them and their behavior as authentic – I had a lot of trouble imagining folks behaving the way they did. So I kept getting pulled out of the plot by my disbelief, which was kind of distracting.
All-in-all, I did enjoy the book, primarily due to its setting, but didn’t feel it was strong enough to receive my normal rating of four stars. (I keep five stars for a few truly awesome read-over-and-over-again books.) So it gets a three-star rating from me instead.
My thanks again to the publisher and to Edelweiss for the ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.
September 30, 2024
Graham's greatest skill is his ability to integrate wonderful western settings into his mysteries. His plotting abilities grow with each episode, but his characterizations remain weak. Sadly this is a family I just wouldn't care to know. The main character, archaeologist Chuck Bender, has an unpredictable temper leaning toward violence, his much younger wife is so prickly and stubborn that if the author didn't keep telling us how much Chuck loves her, we would never guess that it was anything but a physical attraction. Her two young daughters are spoiled, rude, willful, and stubborn to the point where they are often dangers to themselves. Chuck's brother-in-law is simply a mess; his mother is downright evil with no redeeming human qualities. This episode included a fascinating archeological experience that was pretty much glossed over and needed way more attention. I'll give it 3 stars for the well developed plot, the use of setting, and a nice audio performance by Joel Richards. I would have ranked it higher if not for the awful unidimensional characters on both good and evil sides of the plot.
February 25, 2025
I loved this book and would’ve given it 5 stars except for the terrible ending!! There were four people involved in the crimes and they all got away with it! So bad.
Anyways. I really enjoyed the plot development and the incredible amount of true information about Arches, Moab, and the southwest region embedded. Lots of great info, all the details about plants, trail names, etc. are totally accurate. I could totally see something like this happening in the future…collapse of a world famous arch because of people being stupid/fracking/developments nearby. Especially with all the loss of NPS employees right now, thank you Trump and Elon. 😡
Anyways. I really enjoyed the plot development and the incredible amount of true information about Arches, Moab, and the southwest region embedded. Lots of great info, all the details about plants, trail names, etc. are totally accurate. I could totally see something like this happening in the future…collapse of a world famous arch because of people being stupid/fracking/developments nearby. Especially with all the loss of NPS employees right now, thank you Trump and Elon. 😡
March 17, 2023
My two favorite things: parks and mystery books.
Picked up this one from Back of Beyond Books in Moab while I visited Arches recently. It was so neat to picture everything in the book as I had just been. Could’ve done without all the Desert Solitaire references, though. It was a simple read that got me through the long car rides home. I might make this a tradition and get a new book in the series that coincides with the parks I visit.
Picked up this one from Back of Beyond Books in Moab while I visited Arches recently. It was so neat to picture everything in the book as I had just been. Could’ve done without all the Desert Solitaire references, though. It was a simple read that got me through the long car rides home. I might make this a tradition and get a new book in the series that coincides with the parks I visit.
April 3, 2021
Decent combination of natural history and mystery, this time in Utah’s Arches National Park. Lots of local references, including to Edward Abbey, Moab’s Back of Beyond bookstore and the continuing battle in Utah over fracking. I could have done without Chuck’s intensely annoying mother, although she was tangled up in much of the plot.
Read
October 13, 2021Picked this up at a local bookstore as we were heading to the Utah national parks. It was okay - I wanted to finish it to find out 'who done it' and I learned some things about the park and the original occupants of the area. But the story was a bit preachy about current and historical conflicts between preservation folks, native folks, political folks, industry folks etc.
September 13, 2020
I chose this book because of the setting of arches park. I enjoyed reading about the adventures of campers in the park and the strange happenings. First book I’ve read in this series that takes place in national parks.
November 6, 2022
A good mystery surrounding the fall of one of our National Park treasures. Some parts felt 'preachy', but there was a good amount of reference to conservation of the National Parks. Some characters were likeable and some were not, but all w were flawed. Overall, 4 Stars
November 9, 2024
A contemporary murder mystery set within the incredible landscape of Arches National Park. Also has themes of environmentalism, protecting native heritage and historical sites, and surviving toxic parents.
January 23, 2025
Love his books but all too similar in the way the story is presented and the interactions between characters. A fun way to get to know the parks, but this one felt a little convoluted and disjointed. I kept putting it down and reaching for another book.
June 13, 2019
Quite entertaining and well written but not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
March 17, 2021
Don't forget any character.
Read
May 11, 2021Good book to read on the heels of visiting Arches Park in Utah. I learned some related history and overall enjoyed the book.
February 8, 2022
Great mystery, full of twists and turns!
June 21, 2024
Extremely light reading set in a park that is a lot like Arches NP, but rearranged for narrative purposes. I appreciate the environmentalist sensibility.
August 13, 2025
I always find myself asking why I read these (it's for the national park) but wow, the main character makes SUCH stupid choices. I get really frustrated with him and the author.
March 23, 2021
I bought this book on my visit to Back of Beyond Books in Moab, Utah on our trip out to Yellowstone, Canyonland, and Arches National Parks. It also fits into my @theunreadshelf project for a book bought on a trip. I enjoyed this mystery as archeologist Chuck and his wife Janelle attempt to discover what caused the fall of the Landscape Arch in Arches National Park and the death of a local. I'm not too good at figuring out mysteries as I read, but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable. This mystery had plenty of twists, and I enjoyed the side plot the involved conserving the native national monuments. I was interested to find out there is a whole series of national park mysteries so maybe when I visit the next park in the series I will pick it up.
April 4, 2024
This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Chuck has a small contract to survey a new find near Arches National Park. The find is very exciting cave paintings which the head ranger's native wife really wants to protect. Chuck brings his family along to enjoy the park. But their peace is interrupted by the sound and vibration of oil and gas drilling people. Chuck and Janelle are awakened by a loud thump and go out to see what happened. They find an arch has collapsed and a woman died.
Chuck is more of a hothead than Janelle in Arches Enemy which is unusual. He is angry about the destruction of the environment and believes they caused the death. On top of that, his mother lives here now. They visit her but she is totally inappropriate with the girls. So he has to spend his time avoiding her company.
There is a group of RV campers who travel together and they start dying next. Rosie finds a feral cat and wants to adopt it. The family also leaves food for a homeless man. Chuck, as usual, has to look into the deaths. There are many factors so it's not a simple task.
Narration:
I've enjoyed this narrator previously. The primary voice and thoughts were Chuck and he certainly became Chuck for me. The other voices were all comfortably appropriate. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Chuck has a small contract to survey a new find near Arches National Park. The find is very exciting cave paintings which the head ranger's native wife really wants to protect. Chuck brings his family along to enjoy the park. But their peace is interrupted by the sound and vibration of oil and gas drilling people. Chuck and Janelle are awakened by a loud thump and go out to see what happened. They find an arch has collapsed and a woman died.
Chuck is more of a hothead than Janelle in Arches Enemy which is unusual. He is angry about the destruction of the environment and believes they caused the death. On top of that, his mother lives here now. They visit her but she is totally inappropriate with the girls. So he has to spend his time avoiding her company.
There is a group of RV campers who travel together and they start dying next. Rosie finds a feral cat and wants to adopt it. The family also leaves food for a homeless man. Chuck, as usual, has to look into the deaths. There are many factors so it's not a simple task.
Narration:
I've enjoyed this narrator previously. The primary voice and thoughts were Chuck and he certainly became Chuck for me. The other voices were all comfortably appropriate. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
August 31, 2019
This installment of the National Parks Mysteries focuses on the threat to the National Parks and Native American lands by greedy political factions and companies after natural resources. The discovery of a cave of amazing pictorials has resulted in a contract for Bender Archaeological to map and measure the aart so that activists can use the discovery to recover reduced portions of the monuments area of Utah, part of the protected desert. Recently O & G Seismic has begun thumping next to the Park, beginning the process of fracking to find and recover oil and gas in the area. There is a process in the works in the State's government to completely eliminate the Park, and it believed by the environmental activists that the fracking will damage the arches. In the group's plan, the assistance of Chuck's mother Sheila has been invited. The National Park Ranger Sanford Gibbons, whose wife is Native American has brought Chuck into the effort (suggested by his mother, again manipulating the events). Sheila had come to Moab to become a "seer" enticing people to spend their money finding their peace. She had been a neglectful mother, and Chuck had been estranged from her for a long time. It seems the perfect opportunity to introduce her Janelle and the girls. Sheila enlisted the help of Megan Johnson, recently married to Paul, former military and another outdoor athlete. Megan had become mesmorized by Sheila's schtick and had begun getting her own clients. She is encouraged by Sheila to go to the Arches each morning and climb into the middle, for a spiritual experience. She is on the Landscape Arch when it collapses and is killed.
During the investigation Chuck becomes suspicious of Sanford's involvement, especially when a drill hole with explosive material is discovered by Chuck and Paul and later removed by someone. The explosive had not detonated, and the thumping had, in fact, been the reason for the collapse of the arch, but its discovery would have defeated the attempt to make changes. As it evolves, Sheila is the catalyst to this entire event, after the archaeological discovery. She had a lucrative scam going, and was angry that Megan kept wanting a bigger cut of the revenue, and had been in competition. She manipulated Frank into setting the explosive, and at the same time moved Megan to be on the Arch when the explosion occurred. She had also encouraged Frank to kill Glen, Sanford's schizophrenic son, when he sees Frank in the Park. Glen had been living there, and Chuck and his family had helped him. She has also befriended the women of the RV convoy that has been camping at the Park, encouraging those whose husbands were controlling and abusive, leading up to the killing of Howard and Frank, by Frank's wife Nora. Sheila owns up to her involvement in the end and brags that they will not turn her in as it would implicate others, including Sanford, and impede the plan to go to Washington about the Park. It turns out that she is as evil and self focused as Chuck remembered. The startling story ends with her driving off to leave Moab for a new town to exploit. So sad in so many ways.
Central to this story are the pictorials in the cave that indicate that the Ancestral Puebloans had been meeting in the area for decades, in a peaceful manner. It depicts the social life of the Southwest tribes in a variety of cultural art: Mogollan, Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont. It was a fascinating description of this archaeological history of the region, around a tale of greed and murder. This is an excellent series that addresses the myriad ways that our environment and resources are being damaged and misused, and Graham is creative in enriching his stories with this history.
During the investigation Chuck becomes suspicious of Sanford's involvement, especially when a drill hole with explosive material is discovered by Chuck and Paul and later removed by someone. The explosive had not detonated, and the thumping had, in fact, been the reason for the collapse of the arch, but its discovery would have defeated the attempt to make changes. As it evolves, Sheila is the catalyst to this entire event, after the archaeological discovery. She had a lucrative scam going, and was angry that Megan kept wanting a bigger cut of the revenue, and had been in competition. She manipulated Frank into setting the explosive, and at the same time moved Megan to be on the Arch when the explosion occurred. She had also encouraged Frank to kill Glen, Sanford's schizophrenic son, when he sees Frank in the Park. Glen had been living there, and Chuck and his family had helped him. She has also befriended the women of the RV convoy that has been camping at the Park, encouraging those whose husbands were controlling and abusive, leading up to the killing of Howard and Frank, by Frank's wife Nora. Sheila owns up to her involvement in the end and brags that they will not turn her in as it would implicate others, including Sanford, and impede the plan to go to Washington about the Park. It turns out that she is as evil and self focused as Chuck remembered. The startling story ends with her driving off to leave Moab for a new town to exploit. So sad in so many ways.
Central to this story are the pictorials in the cave that indicate that the Ancestral Puebloans had been meeting in the area for decades, in a peaceful manner. It depicts the social life of the Southwest tribes in a variety of cultural art: Mogollan, Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont. It was a fascinating description of this archaeological history of the region, around a tale of greed and murder. This is an excellent series that addresses the myriad ways that our environment and resources are being damaged and misused, and Graham is creative in enriching his stories with this history.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2025
1.5 stars. I wanted to like it more. The premise of the series is charming and I appreciate Scott's commitment to environmental conservation and indigenous rights. But I found the dialogue amateurish, and the villianization of certain people too black and white. Maybe that's supposed to be the main character's biases but it feels like the author's.
November 16, 2024
Contrived Mystery to Explore Conservation Conflict
The backdrop of Arches National Park and the conflict of oil exploration nearby is highlighted in this murder mystery laced with exaggerated characters and extreme behaviors. The murders are contrived but the conflict is interestingly presented and expounded on
The backdrop of Arches National Park and the conflict of oil exploration nearby is highlighted in this murder mystery laced with exaggerated characters and extreme behaviors. The murders are contrived but the conflict is interestingly presented and expounded on
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews