‘A page turner of a mystery western’
-Steven Hawley, author of Recovering a Lost River
Deception at the Diamond D Ranch
A new fast-paced mystery from debut novelist G.R. Stahl
Ranger Cade Rigens is working to establish the nation’s newest national park in one of the most rugged and remote parts of the American West. On the cusp of a history-making public hearing, the park’s most vocal opponent comes to Cade with news about a young man who went missing doing research in the mountains.
Venturing into the wilderness with a political adversary as his guide is the least of Cade’s problems. As he struggles to uncover what happened, he gets the attention of militant activists who stymie his progress and threaten his safety. As he gets close to unraveling it all, he discovers at the center a mystery as old as the region’s settlement.
Deception at the Diamond D Ranch, April 2022 from Coffeetown Press, is grounded in present-day political tensions about federal land in the West. It also draws on the story and heritage of Basques who moved to the West at the turn of the twentieth century to work as miners and sheep herders. Basque language, dance, traditions and stories dating to 6000 BC are thriving in the Intermountain West, and the central riddle in Deception at the Diamond D Ranch hinges on the lore and legends of this vibrant and influential heritage.
Deception at the Diamond D Ranch is set against the backdrop of the West’s most unsung and stunning scenery, as well as the real tensions that exist between rural westerners, new westerners, and the lower forty-eight states’ largest concentration of publicly owned land.
Available at the following retailers
Indi bookstores in Idaho: Rediscovered Books in Boise, Iconoclast Books in Hailey, Barn Owl Books in McCall, and your local bookstore. Go to your favorite bookstore’s website and copy this ISBN number into the search window: 9781942078500
Big retailers: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, and other outlets
Booksellers can order directly from Epicenter Press at orders@epicenterpress.com or through a wholesaler such as Ingram, or Baker & Taylor for libraries. ISBN-13: 9781942078500
Author Reviews
“One of the hallmarks of good fiction is the ability of a compelling character to guide a reader on a trip toward an intimate knowledge of one of the great nerve centers of planet earth. Cade Rigens channels the people and places of the arid intermountain West as surely as Travis McGee works the back waters of Cedar Key, or Nero Wolfe solves crimes in New York City. G.R. Stahl makes certain that Rigens rarely experiences a dull moment, and subsequently, neither will his readers. This is a page-turner of a mystery Western.” - Steven Hawley, author of Recovering a Lost River
“For over a decade I have admired the writing of G.R. Stahl, his way of writing places with such clear-eyed detail that you feel you live there and have lived there all along. His interior landscapes match his exterior ones: his people and his stories feel hauntingly familiar, compelling, and real.” - Elisabeth Sharp McKetta, author of Awake with Asashoryu
“While G.R. Stahl’s debut mystery novel … is a fun, page-turning suspenseful read, the story will captivate Basques and Basque lovers even more because of the author’s clear enthusiasm for the Basque people, who speak the oldest language of Europe.” -Nancy Zubiri, author of Travel Guide to Basque America
Deception at the Diamond D Ranch Background Articles
A Basque writer and blogger is lauding ‘Deception at the Diamond D Ranch’ as a “fun, page-turning suspenseful read” that accurately depicts Basque culture and places.