Basque Moon: A Nellie Burns and Moonshine Mystery

The rugged Stanley Basin of central Idaho is the star of Weston’s disjointed, meandering second Nellie Burns and Moonshine mystery (after 2015’s Moonshadows). In the summer of 1923, photographer Nellie Burns accepts an assignment to take scenic photos for railroad travel brochures. She arranges to spend several weeks operating out of a sheep camp deep in the mountains. But when she and her dog, Moonshine, arrive at the camp with the sheep rancher and relief sheepherder, they discover the shepherd on duty has been murdered. Nellie is caught in the middle of long-standing rivalries among sheep men and cattlemen, revenuers and moonshiners, and those promoting the region’s burgeoning tourist industry. Weston does a good job evoking the wild beauty of Idaho’s Sawtooth Range, and Nellie is a likable protagonist even though she is exasperatingly naive, jumping headlong into dangerous situations without considering the consequences. The ending offers a promising direction for subsequent installments. (Aug.)