ENDANGERED by Pamela Beason

A Summer Westin Mystery, Book 1
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Date published: December 2011
ISBN 9780425244982
Mass Market Paperback
Mystery
Reviewed by Tammy
Obtained via: publisher



ENDANGERED is Pamela Beason’s first Summer Westin Mystery. The story takes place in a Utah campground where Sam is spending time researching cougars for an online blog site story. When a young boy goes missing after Sam sees the child wandering around the park and nudges him toward a man who appears to be his father, concern and guilt have her attempting to solve the boy’s disappearance. Blame is falling on the park’s cougars that Sam has helped to rehabilitate a year earlier. It isn’t until FBI Agent Chase Perez joins the search that other suspects are considered.

Suspects arise among the park’s visitors, but the park rangers seem to discount Sam’s suspicions. Then clues lead Sam and Chase to the high country where they comb canyon caves for the boy and a mountain man who may have vital information. But as the media frenzy escalates, Sam fears she may not have the time to solve the mystery of the missing child before hunters are let loose to kill the cougars Sam has come to respect.

Pamela Beason’s first book in her Summer Westin Mysteries, ENDANGERED, is a race to find a missing child set against the backdrop of a freelance wildlife biologist’s ongoing story on the areas’ cougar rehabilitation efforts. Sam is strong willed and likable. Her attraction to the FBI agent in charge of finding the missing child and his for her keep the story interesting and add an element of suspense to the story. The story setting is detailed and expansive. The dual storyline of Sam’s determination to save her beloved cougars while tirelessly searching for the missing child with a dash of possible romance thrown in keeps the story moving at a constant pace while shedding the light of possibility on several characters introduced in the book.

The minor characters in this book, Sam’s friend the Park Ranger, the roommate who aids Sam in her research, the blog owner and Sam’s sometimes boyfriend, reporter Adam Steele, all added some spice to the story and gave added dimension to Sam’s character. The relationship between Sam and Adam reminded this reader of the female lead and the reporter’s relationship in the “Die Hard” movies. You just knew that reporter was going to be clocked by the little lady at some point. This is also the case with Adam Steele. Of course, that made the possible love interest of Sam and the FBI agent all that much more enticing.

Pamela Beason’s ENDANGERED is a mystery worth spending some time with. Her descriptive writing style, use of the National Park in Utah as the setting and the panic of the missing child, come together in an explosive mystery that can be enjoyed by just about everyone this summer.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.