River Run (The Forensic Geology Series, Book 5) by Toni Dwiggins

Release date: April 10, 2019

Subgenre: Forensic thriller, Adventure thriller

About River Run:

 

There are plenty of ways to die in the Grand Canyon.

Forensic geologists Cassie Oldfield and Walter Shaws investigate one way: trouble on the canyon's Colorado River. Stranded raft. Life vests unused. Rafters missing.

The only clue to the fate of the rafters is a bag of pebbles caught by the bow line. Following that clue, the geologists uncover a hellish scheme. Not only are the rafters in peril, but the river itself is under attack.

The race to stop it takes Cassie and Walter deep into the canyon, and onto the mighty river, putting their own survival at stake.

► RIVER RUN is the latest adventure in the Forensic Geology Series.
"You gotta love a geologist that gets in this much trouble!" (reviewer)

► All books in the series are complete novels, and can be enjoyed in any order.

 

Excerpt:

 

CHAPTER ONE

“There's a boatload of ways to die in the Grand Canyon,” the ranger said. “But this...” He did not complete the thought.

I considered, again, the scene in front of us.

The raft nosed the shore of the muscular Colorado River. It had been caught in an eddy, pinned by a tree branch, its trip interrupted, the raft itself abandoned. The beach where we stood was lightly haired with brush and bordered by a steep cliff of hard schist. The beach was unmarked, save for our own footprints and the churned-up sand at the downriver end where the helicopter had deposited us.

There was no sign of the rafters.

I yanked my attention back to the frowning ranger. In our short acquaintance, National Park Service Ranger Pete Molina had not once failed to complete a sentence.

“But this?” I asked.

“This one's hard to read, Cassie.”

“You talking about the life vests?” I indicated the three vests stowed in the raft.

“Starting with the PFDs, yes.” He added, “Personal flotation devices.”

I knew what PFD meant. Life or death, it seemed. “If the rafters went into the river without them...”

“Then they sure made drowning easy.”

Pete Molina was head of Search and Rescue, which gave him a lot of years responding to trauma in the Canyon. He had a round boyish face that belied those years—tanned, lightly weathered, thanks no doubt to that long-billed ball cap. He had already impressed me with his vast knowledge of this river, this canyon, this world. Born in the nearby town of Tusayan, a Grand Canyon native. This place was bred in the bone, as he'd put it.

“Plus,” Pete continued, “there's the strangeness with the bow line.”

I nodded. The yellow line lay in a tangle at the bow. Plus, there was the zipper baggie pinned under the bow line. The rock chips inside the bag were the reason my partner and I were here.

My partner Walter Shaws and I are forensic geologists: Shaws and Oldfield, Sierra Geoforensics, home base in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. What we do for a living is analyze earth evidence at scenes of crimes and crises. Thirty-plus years on the job for Walter, well weathered. Ten-plus years for me, scrupulous about using sunscreen but nevertheless carrying my own marks from the field.

Walter turned from studying the raft, to the ranger. “Pete, what's your take?”

The ranger considered. “To begin, the ignition key's in the off position, which means they never started the motor. So let's begin ashore.”

Walter frowned. “Here?”

“I doubt it.” The ranger indicated the lack of unfamiliar footprints on the beach. “I'd say the raft came from someplace upriver.”

“Runaway raft?” I said.

“Yep, but not like any I've ever seen. If the bow line just came untied from its anchorage, it'd be trailing in the water.”

“So somebody tossed it aboard.”

“Looks that way.”

I glanced again at the vests. “About the PFDs...do you get people who just don't wear them? Careless, too many beers, whatever.”

“We do. But I don't think this was a case of party animals.”

“Why?”

“Look at the rigging.”

 

 

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About Toni Dwiggins:

 Toni Dwiggins is an award-winning and bestselling author. She takes forensic mystery into thriller territory, bringing her characters from the lab to outdoor adventure. She has hiked the same trails, skied the same mountains, run the same river, and kayaked the same sea as her characters -- but she doesn't get into nearly the trouble that they do.

 

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