Canyonlands Carnage: A National Park Mystery

Graham’s earnest seventh National Park mystery (after 2020’s Mesa Verde Victim) takes archaeologist Chuck Bender to Utah’s remote Canyonlands National Park, where Chuck has signed on for a two-week whitewater rafting expedition, the members of which are “comprised of water-policy experts and corporate representatives.” At the end of each day’s rafting, they are “tasked with debating the contentious government policies for water use in the arid American Southwest, discussing how to improve rules and methods for allocating water among residential consumers and agricultural and industrial users.” A few days into the trip, an esteemed emeritus professor of water policy dies of an apparent heart attack. Not until more than halfway through the book is there a clear-cut murder, and Chuck realizes there’s a killer in their midst. Scott’s descriptions of the excitement of rafting and the beauty of the landscape compensate only in part for the almost incidental mystery plot and characters who often speak in lecture mode. This one’s for those who care deeply about environmental policy in the American West. (Sept.)