Toe Tag: Reckoning

Welcome to Mysteries to Die For and this Toe Tag.I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is normally a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you at the heart of mystery, murder, and mayhem. Today is a bonus episode we call a Toe Tag. It is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, and thriller genre.Today’s featured release is Reckoning by Baron Birtcher Reckoning was released by Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller, promoted by Partners In Crime Tours, and is available from AMAZON LINK and other book retailers.About Baron BirtcherBefore he became a full-time writer, Baron Birtcher spent a number of years as a professional musician and founded an independent record label and management company.Baron is the winner of the Silver Falchion Award (Hard Latitudes); Winner of Killer Nashville Readers Choice Award (South California Purples); and Best Book of the Year Award for Fistful Of Rain. He has also been nominated for the Nero Award, the Lefty, the Foreword Indie, the Claymore, and the Pacific Northwest's Spotted Owl Awards. Baron's writing has been hailed as "The real deal" by Publishers Weekly; "Fast Paced and Engaging" by Booklist; and "Solid, Fluent and Thrilling" by Kirkus.Find him at https://www.facebook.com/BaronRBirtcherTG Wolff ReviewReckoning is a mystery with a conspiracy thriller subgenre. It’s the 1970s and Portland, OR Detective Clark Wehr is found dead in a fishing cabin, hours from home. Everyone from Wehr’s partner to his commander wants the case closed quickly as a suicide. But Sheriff Ty Dawson has questions that the evidence isn’t satisfying and he’s going to keep digging until he gets the answers. Bottom line: Reckoning is for you if you like cheering on the underdog and calling out injustices for the sleezy, dirty lies they are. Strengths of the story. Labeled as a Ty Dawson mystery, this story fits more accurately in a conspiracy thriller genre. A conspiracy thriller is one where the protagonist investigates a crime or anomaly to ultimately find it is a small part of a much bigger story. Reckoning does begin with the discovery of Wehr’s body, but storylines of the attempted cover over by the Portland PD and the woes of an elderly rancher who is being harassed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service get equal screen time. Each of the three storylines are interesting and compelling, leaving the reader wanting to know where it is going.This is Ty Dawson’s third story. I have not read the previous two and did not have a problem with picking the story up. If there are Easter eggs, they are subtle gifts for fans of the series that do not detract for the new reader. Because this is an established character, Dawson and the Meriweather County cast are refined and well developed.The pacing is strong and consistent. There wasn’t a section where the story dragged or my attention waned. Dawson is juggling so much, there isn’t time for the mundane.Where the story fell short of ideal. Having finished the book days ago, I continue to think through the storylines and their resolutions – a testament to how into the story I