Old Murders Never Die

Sandi & Pete are private investigators, engaged and setting out on a camping trip in Arizona. When Pete takes a "road" that Sandi labels a trail they find themselves stranded in an old ghost town that isn't on any of the maps they brought with them.

While investigating the town Sandi finds some journals from the Sheriff in 1880 and 1881 that indicate a murder occurred in this peaceful little town. Pete is more interested in why everyone seems to have deserted the town at about the same time, many leaving behind almost everything they owned! Did the murder have anything to do with that?

There is another mystery that intrudes, a mysterious cowboy who rides in on his horse, scares both Sandi and Pete and then disappears, only to reappear at show more different times.

I liked a lot about this story, the old mystery that the Sheriff was trying to solve, the mystery of why the cowboy stranded them here and the interaction of the two city slickers with the challenges of camping in a ghost town.

The only thin that bothered me was how often McGraw felt she needed to say the two main characters names. I didn't notice at first but as the book got a little more intense it started to intrude. Since there were only three people in the area (plus a town full of "ghosts") it felt forced for them to forever be calling out each others names. It wasn't bad enough that I won't read more stories with Sandi and Pete. show less

though i was expecting something more hard-boiled, it was an unexpected (though OK) cozy. perhaps a little too angsty for a cozy, but there you are...

One of the best mysteries I've read in ages. LA PIs Sandi and Pete are off on a camping vacation when they become lost. They take a short hike to find a place to spend the night and find a ghost town. On returning to their jeep to get things they find that the jeep has been broken in to and it won't start when they try to leave. So starts the story Wolf Creek.