Breck's Quandary

Breckenridge 'Breck' Dyer is sheriff of a little ski-resort, and usually life for him and his deputy Jenny O'Hara is pretty quiet. However, that is about to change as a drug cartel have moved into the area and intend to set up a serious drug farm using illegal immigrant labour.

Breck's family and friends become targets as he tries to track and apprehend these villains. However, he is seriously hampered as the city mayor, Seneca Matthews, does not like him, so will not approve finances for basic equipment (such as a truck that actually works).

I found it astounding that a mayor can prevent a law enforcer receiving the funding he needs to do the job, or that he can even remove him from office if he manufactures enough evidence! And that a sheriff is elected not state appointed! Equally perturbing was the lack of co-operation from the officers in the next town!

I really enjoyed this book. Breck and Jenny are endearing characters, and the story was extremely well-told. I didn't want to put it down! I hope there will be more to come!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sunbury Press Inc for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Sunbury Press, Inc., for the ARC.
OK, so if you'd like an easy-read, a straightforward story of murder and mayhem in small town Quandary in the Colorado mountains - then here you have it!
It seems that Mayor Matthews' life's-work is to keep his Law enforcement presence in the town to a minimum. Constantly cutting their budget, his Sheriff Breck and Deputy Jen are housed in a disused church. Their shared transport is Breck's old jeep. Their snowmobile is a broken heap outside the door. Cell phone coverage is patchy because the Mayor allowed the one cell tower to be erected on a fellow-council-member, Tibbs' horse ranch.
Following a tip-off, Breck sets off in a blizzard to investigate a cannabis growing-house in the mountains, only to be confronted by a couple of Mexican cartel members. Freddy, the cabin's owner, is nowhere to be seen.
Thus begins the story of drugs infiltrating Quandary but, somehow, the Mexicans always seem to be one step ahead of Breck and Jen.
We have attempted murders, murders, an avalanche, cannabis and prescription pills as well as people traffiking. Mayor Matthews is up to his neck in it all but just doesn't realise it.

This is only just an OK read. For me the ending was rather cliff-hanger because it really didn't conclude as a standalone and keeps the way open for the continuing (and unlikely) stories of Quandary and their town council. The characters were a bit 'thin', although descriptives of the area and weather conditions did lend somewhat to the atmosphere. The cartel members appeared to me, in the beginning, to be somewhat Laurel & Hardy-ish, yet I enjoyed the interaction between Breck and Jen which alluded to some humour and wittiness.