Second in the series, doesn't matter if you've read the first. I'm always attracted to mysteries set in the West so I've picked up a couple of these over the years. I have to say this one left me rather cold. I like the character of Neil, and I liked most of the plot, I liked the bits about raptors and falconry, but there's an awful lot of fanciful metaphors and philosophical musing that slowed everything to a crawl. Gieson (or should it be Van Gieson?) gives fictional names for the national park and the towns around it, along with making up some geography, which is also distracting. I did guess the murderer and the motive early on, and despite my thought that the book was slow I actually finished it in a day. So - readable, but not going on my favorites list.
A fun read.
