‘Deception at the Diamond D Ranch’ launches at #1 on Boise bestseller list
New mystery features Boise, SW Idaho landmarks
The streets of downtown Boise come alive in a new mystery released by Seattle publisher Coffeetown Press on April 12. The book is written by longtime Boise resident Greg Stahl, under the pen name G.R. Stahl.
The opening scenes transpire on Boise’s Basque Block on the eve of Jaialdi, the large Basque festival held once every five years. The plot quickly takes its main characters to other prominent landmarks including the state capitol, the Bruneau and Jarbidge river canyons, and the town of Jarbidge, Nevada.
In Stahl’s words, Deception at the Diamond D Ranch is “a fast-paced Rocky Mountain mystery meant to be light, fun and educational—particularly with regard to Basque culture in America.”
The book is about a man who returns to the wilds for the first time in years to search for a missing kid. The main character, a retired smoke jumper and U.S. Park Service employee named Cade Rigens, steps from the safety of his downtown Boise office into a tinderbox of conflict revolving around creation of a new national park in Idaho.
“My goal was to tell a story with a lot of momentum and conflict, and public land issues in the West are a great vehicle for that,” Stahl said. “Cade also has to overcome personal demons along the way, and I think a lot of the book’s propulsive ethos comes from joining Cade on that journey.”
In its first week in print, Deception at the Diamond D Ranch rose to the top of the Rediscovered Books Boise Weekly Top 10 Bestseller list. It also received accolades from several local and regional authors.
Steven Hawley of Hood River, Ore. is author of Recovering a Lost River. He called Deception at the Diamond D Ranch “a page-turner of a mystery Western.” Hawley continued: “G.R. Stahl makes certain that Rigens rarely experiences a dull moment, and subsequently, neither will his readers.”
Elizabeth Sharp McKetta, author of Awake with Asashoryu, complimented Stahl for writing settings with “clear-eyed detail.” She continued: “His interior landscapes match his exterior ones: his people and his stories feel hauntingly familiar, compelling, and real.”
If you’d like to hear Stahl speak about Deception at the Diamond D Ranch, or join him at a book signing, Rediscovered Books in Boise will host three events the second week of May. Additional events in the Wood River Valley, McCall, Hood River and Missoula are pending, but you can check grstahl.com for details. Visit rdbooks.org for details about the following scheduled events in May.
An Instagram LIVE presentation and interview on May 10 from 7-8 p.m.
A Boise book signing on Thursday, May 12, from 4-5:30 p.m. at Rediscovered Books in Boise at 180 N. 8th St.
A Caldwell book signing on Saturday, May 14, from 1-2:30 p.m. at Rediscovered Books in Caldwell at 802 Arthur St.