Calico
By Lee Goldberg

Calico by Lee Goldberg, a New York Times bestselling author and tv producer of many favourite, renowned dramas, gives an original mix of genres – mystery , historical and western. Discover more in the blurb and then my review below.

Blurb

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg, comes an explosive, page-turning investigative thriller – with a mind-blowing twist.
Highly Rated By: Harlen Coben, Lee Child and Linwood Barclay.

There’s a saying in Barstow, California, a decaying city in the scorching Mojave desert . . .

The Interstate here only goes in one direction: Away.

But it’s the only place where ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade, after a staggering fall from grace, could get another badge . . . and a shot at redemption.

Over a century ago, and just a few miles further into the bleak landscape, a desperate stranger ended up in Calico, a struggling mining town, also hoping for a second chance.

His fate, all those years ago, and hers today are linked when Beth investigates an old skeleton dug up in a shallow, sandy grave . . . and also tries to identity a vagrant run-over by a distracted motorhome driver during a lightning storm.

Every disturbing clue she finds, every shocking discovery she makes, force Beth to confront her own troubled past . . . and a past that’s not her own . . . until it all smashes together in a revelation that could change the world.

Review

Who’d have thought it, a mystery and western combined actually works and Goldberg writes it seamlessly. It runs with 2 different time-frames as 2 bodies are discovered. One has died in the present day and the other bones are discovered to be from at least 100 years earlier. It’s an intriguing case for former detective Beth McDade to investigate. She, herself is a compelling character to read about. Everyone of course has a past, but she has one that is just as interesting to uncover as the investigation into the deaths. 
Encompassed into the story is also the silver rush over a century ago and more about what was happening in the socio-economic sphere and this gives it even more body and gravitas. It’s well-written so readers can instantly get a feel of the context as well as setting.

Calico is certainly very different and one that I feel I’d recommend to readers to give a go. It’s well-worth getting caught up in this world of history, humour and crime. Investing in the characters is time well-spent as revelations appear and its easy to get caught up with their lives from past and present day in this very twisty book where you don’t see what’s coming next, until it happens…