Fatal Divisions is Claire Booth’s fourth Hank Worth mystery featuring the sheriff of Branson County, Missouri. I love these kind of small-town or community police procedurals. It reminds me of Steven Havill’s Posadas County mysteries. This one finds Sheriff Worth and his Chief Deputy Sheila Turley on separate investigations, until a terrific ending.

Branson County Sheriff Hank Worth has not yet gotten over the car accident that killed six teenagers in A Deadly Turn, so his wife, Maggie, does an intervention. He agrees to go to Columbia, Missouri to visit his college roommate, but he has an ulterior motive. Maggie’s Aunt Fin was visiting them. Her brother, Duncan suspected Fin’s husband, Lew, was cheating on her. But Fin had talked with Hank. Lew’s secretary had disappeared, and she was worried that he had something to do with that. Hank agrees to investigate the family business, and Lew, but neither Fin nor Hank want anyone else in the family to know about it. A trip to Columbia is the perfect cover for Hank’s investigation.

While he’s gone, Deputy Turley reorganizes the shift work to save money on overtime. That causes an insurrection from the deputies, especially those that work in the jail. She’s trying to juggle schedules while she and Deputy Sam Karnes investigate a murder. Their suspicions narrow to the man’s son, or a group of elderly men who played bocce ball with the victim. Sam’s just worried that Turley hasn’t told Hank about the murder case or the staff mutiny.

Hank returns from Columbia, tracking the family case back to Branson County. His case, and the murder investigation, build to a climax on the same night when deputies have called a sick-out. It’s a motley crew who handles the mess in this skillfully written, character-driven story. The mystery builds to a fascinating conclusion in this excellent police procedural.

Claire Booth’s website is www.clairebooth.com

Fatal Divisions by Claire Booth. Severn House, 2021. ISBN 9780727889973 (hardcover), 240p.


FTC Full Disclosure – I read a .PDF for a journal.