In Delores Fossen’s ‘Sheriff in the Saddle,’ Everyone Is a Suspect [REVIEW]

It is to be the party of the year. But someone ends up dead and the host is the most likely suspect. Even as the new sheriff investigates the case, she must get to the truth and ignore her personal feelings about the people involved. But can she find the killer before the body count climbs even higher? Find out in the first novel in Delores Fossen’s new Law in Lubbock County series, Sheriff in the Saddle.

Sheriff Leigh Mercer has mixed feelings about being called out to the Triple R Ranch. It’s been a minute since she’s been here, and her last visit wasn’t in a professional capacity. That time she was in the arms of handsome rancher Cullen Brodie, and although they haven’t been an item for a while, she wouldn’t mind kissing him again.

Tonight, however, she’s been called out because Cullen’s former girlfriend, Alexa, has just been founded murdered in his home. If they had been the only two people there, Cullen would be Leigh’s only suspect, no matter how attracted she is to him. But the house had been filled with people all night for the extravagant engagement party Cullen had thrown for his best friend, Austin Borden, and his fiancé, Kali Starling.

To complicate matters further, there’s the matter of the ranch hand Jamie who was found knocked out cold behind the bushes. As Leigh and Cullen drive over icy roads to the local hospital to check on him, someone goes after them, using their vehicle for target practice until Leigh’s police cruiser winds up smashed against a tree. Suddenly, this is no open-and-shut case, no matter how badly the town council wants it to be. Alexa is no longer the only target, and now Leigh and Cullen must figure out who wants them dead before they’re both laid out in the morgue alongside his former girlfriend.

Delores Fossen always delivers fast-paced, exciting stories with great characters and a bit of sizzle. But she really outdoes herself with Sheriff in the Saddle. This book is chock full of possible suspects, and everyone has a motive. As death threats, political intrigue, car chases, shoot outs, and even arson are employed, the identity of the killer is kept a well-guarded secret up until the thrilling conclusion. This novel races out of the gate not only on all cylinders, but with turbo thrusters that will have readers white knuckling the book until the last page is turned.

Delores Fossen, a USA Today bestselling author, has written over 100 novels, with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. She’s received a Booksellers’ Best Award and the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award. She was also a finalist for a prestigious RITA® Award.

As a child she dreamed of becoming a Texas Ranger or FBI agent, but now creates fictional cowboy cops and law enforcement officers in her romantic suspense novels instead. Before writing full-time, she also worked as an Air Force captain, a special education teacher and a rehab counselor.

She lives with her husband, an Air Force colonel, and her four children.

To learn more, visit her home on the Web at DeloresFossen.com, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

SHERIFF IN THE SADDLE
By Delores Fossen
256 pp. Harlequin Intrigue. $5.99

Purchase Sheriff in the Saddle direct from Jathan & Heather Books or from one of these other fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Half Price Books, Harlequin, Hudson Booksellers, IndieBound, Powell’s, Target, or Walmart.