What do you think?
Rate this book
Red River Mystery #5
Dark Places
2016 - Will Rogers Medallion Award Honorable Mention in Western Fiction
At the tail end of 1967, the Parker family once again finds it impossible to hide from a world spinning out of control. Fourteen-year-old Top still can't fit in with their Center Springs, Texas, community or forget recent, vicious crimes. His near-twin cousin Pepper, desperate to escape her own demons, joins the Flower Children flocking to California - just as two businessmen are kidnapped and murdered in the Red River bottoms on the same night a deadly hit and run kills a farmer. Constable Ned Parker wonders if these crimes are connected, but he goes after Pepper, leaving the investigation with Sheriff Cody Parker.
Parker hires Deputy Anna Sloan, an investigator with an eye toward detail as everyone is eyeing her. Yet it is instinct that propels her after killers through a world nearly forgotten, the hunt's backdrop one of continuous rain, gloomy skies, and floods. When she's ambushed, the investigation accelerates into gunfire, chases, and hair-raising suspense.
What of Pepper? Out on Route 66, the Mother Road to California, a man named Crow isn't what he seems. Lies, deceptions, and a band of outlaw motorcyclists proves to the Parkers that no matter where you turn, no matter what you do, the world is full of such darkness that even grandmothers are capable of unspeakable deeds.
At the tail end of 1967, the Parker family once again finds it impossible to hide from a world spinning out of control. Fourteen-year-old Top still can't fit in with their Center Springs, Texas, community or forget recent, vicious crimes. His near-twin cousin Pepper, desperate to escape her own demons, joins the Flower Children flocking to California - just as two businessmen are kidnapped and murdered in the Red River bottoms on the same night a deadly hit and run kills a farmer. Constable Ned Parker wonders if these crimes are connected, but he goes after Pepper, leaving the investigation with Sheriff Cody Parker.
Parker hires Deputy Anna Sloan, an investigator with an eye toward detail as everyone is eyeing her. Yet it is instinct that propels her after killers through a world nearly forgotten, the hunt's backdrop one of continuous rain, gloomy skies, and floods. When she's ambushed, the investigation accelerates into gunfire, chases, and hair-raising suspense.
What of Pepper? Out on Route 66, the Mother Road to California, a man named Crow isn't what he seems. Lies, deceptions, and a band of outlaw motorcyclists proves to the Parkers that no matter where you turn, no matter what you do, the world is full of such darkness that even grandmothers are capable of unspeakable deeds.
- GenresThrillerMystery Thriller
370 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2015
About the author
Reavis Z. Wortham
22 books218 followersReavis Z. Wortham retired in 2011 and now works harder than before as the author of the critically acclaimed Red River historical mystery series. Kirkus Reviews listed his first novel, The Rock Hole, as one of their Top 12 Mysteries of 2011. True West Magazine included Dark Places as one of 2015’s Top 12 Modern Westerns. The Providence Journal writes, “This year's Unraveled is a hidden gem of a book that reads like Craig Johnson's Longmire on steroids.” Wortham’s new high octane contemporary thriller from Kensington Publishing, Hawke's Prey, featuring Texas Ranger Sonny Hawke was released in June, 2017.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 20, 2018
The 5th in this series. Great, but not as good as the first 4. One more to go then on to more from RZW, an author I really enjoy & recommend.
February 8, 2021
Dark Places is the 5th book in a very good mystery series. I have enjoyed the five I have read and plan to continue with the series. The time is 1967 and the location is Center Springs Texas.
The book centers around the Parker family. Top, whose parents died when he was young is living with his grandparents. His grandfather Ned is a retired sheriff who gets called in to help on cases. His Uncle Cody is now the sheriff. Top has always been close to his cousin Pepper. Pepper is different than Top. She has a temper and is very spunky. They get into situations together which can be dangerous.
In this book, Pepper wants to get out of Center Springs and make the trip trip to San Francisco. It is the hippie and flower child era. She is bored stiff in Center Springs. She listens to the rock songs on her radio and dreams on leaving Center. When she takes off on the road with a young teenage boy, her dad and Uncle Ned go after her to find her.
The book has the Pepper hitting the road situation, two business men mysteriously disappear in Center and a body is found when getting cows off the road. Law enforcement is really busy as Ned is on the road and Cody has several serious crimes to solve plus the daily problems. Then there is the rain. The rivers and lakes are rising. It isn't stopping and there is serious flooding. Cody has hired a female deputy named Anna who has good detective skills. It is causing discussion because she is the first female deputy.
The book was exciting-especially near the end. There were quite a few tense scenes. I enjoyed it and will continue with the rest of the series. It is a series that you know you will always have a good read.
The book centers around the Parker family. Top, whose parents died when he was young is living with his grandparents. His grandfather Ned is a retired sheriff who gets called in to help on cases. His Uncle Cody is now the sheriff. Top has always been close to his cousin Pepper. Pepper is different than Top. She has a temper and is very spunky. They get into situations together which can be dangerous.
In this book, Pepper wants to get out of Center Springs and make the trip trip to San Francisco. It is the hippie and flower child era. She is bored stiff in Center Springs. She listens to the rock songs on her radio and dreams on leaving Center. When she takes off on the road with a young teenage boy, her dad and Uncle Ned go after her to find her.
The book has the Pepper hitting the road situation, two business men mysteriously disappear in Center and a body is found when getting cows off the road. Law enforcement is really busy as Ned is on the road and Cody has several serious crimes to solve plus the daily problems. Then there is the rain. The rivers and lakes are rising. It isn't stopping and there is serious flooding. Cody has hired a female deputy named Anna who has good detective skills. It is causing discussion because she is the first female deputy.
The book was exciting-especially near the end. There were quite a few tense scenes. I enjoyed it and will continue with the rest of the series. It is a series that you know you will always have a good read.
August 18, 2015
This was my first book in what I realized was a series, but it did not hinder my reading enjoyment at all. There were several goobers in this story set in a small town in Texas. And I found myself laughing out loud numerous times while reading this. It had elements that reminded me of the Keystone Kops, The Three Stooges, Mayberry RFD, and an ending straight from Walton's Mountain itself.
I thought it was going to be creepy, but it wasn't. It ended up being hilarious, backwards, fast paced, with page turning action that I could not put down. I seriously recommend this book and I definitely have to read the rest of this series. I feel my life is missing something big. Ha!
Thanks Poisoned Pen Press and Net Galley for allowing me to read and review this e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
I thought it was going to be creepy, but it wasn't. It ended up being hilarious, backwards, fast paced, with page turning action that I could not put down. I seriously recommend this book and I definitely have to read the rest of this series. I feel my life is missing something big. Ha!
Thanks Poisoned Pen Press and Net Galley for allowing me to read and review this e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
December 10, 2022
one of my top five favorite authors !!!
From the first chapter you know that this is going to be a wild and woolly. I actually lived in Texas at the time of this story and I can tell that the author was spot on about the weather. The author weaves his wonderful story with the truth of that very weather. If you’ve not read Reavis Z. Wortham yet then you are missing out on one of the best living authors today.
From the first chapter you know that this is going to be a wild and woolly. I actually lived in Texas at the time of this story and I can tell that the author was spot on about the weather. The author weaves his wonderful story with the truth of that very weather. If you’ve not read Reavis Z. Wortham yet then you are missing out on one of the best living authors today.
January 28, 2021
So good
This series just gets better and better. Genuine and realistic, each character just rings true. Impeccable storytelling. You can't help but get drawn in.
This series just gets better and better. Genuine and realistic, each character just rings true. Impeccable storytelling. You can't help but get drawn in.
February 7, 2024
2.5 stars.
Another scattered story. There is some good character development, but the plot is incoherent. There are elements of realism in that lack a throughline, but the difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs a throughline.
The weakest in the series so far.
Another scattered story. There is some good character development, but the plot is incoherent. There are elements of realism in that lack a throughline, but the difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs a throughline.
The weakest in the series so far.
Read
July 18, 2022Good read.
June 6, 2023
I probably enjoyed this book in Reavis Wortham’s Red River Mystery series the best. Pepper’s spunk adds character to the storyline.
March 13, 2017
Peppa has started to grate my last nerve and her antics are too much and starting to take away from the book's other characters.
September 2, 2015
Enjoyable Evocation of the Western Mystique, 1 Sept. 2015
As I began this story I was shocked to see that this is the fifth Red River Mystery and I’ve read none of them until now. Does that make me a bad person? Nope, not yet awhile, y’all.
I was perplexed by the writer’s statement of intent at the beginning of the book. Alarm bells go off in my head. If you have the need to explain your work there may be something fundamentally lacking. I’m one of those who believe in subjective interpretation of a piece of art whatever it may be, music, sculpture, painting, writing etc. I believe an audience should be credited with enough intelligence to figure it out for themselves. So I was bristling a little before I even started the novel.
And then…this writer quoted, in its entirety, the Navajo Prayer of Healing. And just like that reeled me right in and I couldn’t escape.
So, I enjoyed this book. At times it seemed like a pastiche of so much that has gone before. The ghosts of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, Scout and Jem Finch, and I’m sure I spotted Idgie Threadgood, all wandered in and out from time to time.
The dialogue was tight. I could hear the Texan drawl as I read. In fact you have to forgive me, y’all, cus I just cain’t stop writin’ like a Texan!!
The fact that the town was called Chisum made me me think of John Wayne and the western feel was sustained throughout. I don’t think I pictured many of the male characters without a Stetson.
This is experienced writing, it’s storytelling and it’s maybe a tale the like of which you’ve heard a thousand times with different names and different places but none of that detracts. There can be comfort in familiarity.
There’s a wonderful soundtrack running through and complementing the narrative which I felt could have been made more of, but that’s because I’ m an ageing hippy who can relate to all the music references and I loved them. Loads of characters; some I believe starred in previous Red River stories, young and old, so it’s a book accessible to a wide audience.
There’s a dual narrative here, the crime of which we are party to right from the start, and another issue which derives from the crime but runs alongside independently. The two stories are quite skilfully interwoven and you’re never taken away from either one for very long. In a sense the reader can just sit back, enjoy the story and see how a resolution is figured out, It’s undemanding cerebrally. There’s plenty of action, plenty of humour and plenty of heartache. But it’s all tidied up by the end of the tale.
I still can’t figure how I’ve missed Reavis Wortham!! Does it make me a bad person? Nope, cus I just done read me this one. But reckon as how I better git me some more Red River Mysteries y’all. – Whizz
Rating: Four Stars.
As I began this story I was shocked to see that this is the fifth Red River Mystery and I’ve read none of them until now. Does that make me a bad person? Nope, not yet awhile, y’all.
I was perplexed by the writer’s statement of intent at the beginning of the book. Alarm bells go off in my head. If you have the need to explain your work there may be something fundamentally lacking. I’m one of those who believe in subjective interpretation of a piece of art whatever it may be, music, sculpture, painting, writing etc. I believe an audience should be credited with enough intelligence to figure it out for themselves. So I was bristling a little before I even started the novel.
And then…this writer quoted, in its entirety, the Navajo Prayer of Healing. And just like that reeled me right in and I couldn’t escape.
So, I enjoyed this book. At times it seemed like a pastiche of so much that has gone before. The ghosts of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, Scout and Jem Finch, and I’m sure I spotted Idgie Threadgood, all wandered in and out from time to time.
The dialogue was tight. I could hear the Texan drawl as I read. In fact you have to forgive me, y’all, cus I just cain’t stop writin’ like a Texan!!
The fact that the town was called Chisum made me me think of John Wayne and the western feel was sustained throughout. I don’t think I pictured many of the male characters without a Stetson.
This is experienced writing, it’s storytelling and it’s maybe a tale the like of which you’ve heard a thousand times with different names and different places but none of that detracts. There can be comfort in familiarity.
There’s a wonderful soundtrack running through and complementing the narrative which I felt could have been made more of, but that’s because I’ m an ageing hippy who can relate to all the music references and I loved them. Loads of characters; some I believe starred in previous Red River stories, young and old, so it’s a book accessible to a wide audience.
There’s a dual narrative here, the crime of which we are party to right from the start, and another issue which derives from the crime but runs alongside independently. The two stories are quite skilfully interwoven and you’re never taken away from either one for very long. In a sense the reader can just sit back, enjoy the story and see how a resolution is figured out, It’s undemanding cerebrally. There’s plenty of action, plenty of humour and plenty of heartache. But it’s all tidied up by the end of the tale.
I still can’t figure how I’ve missed Reavis Wortham!! Does it make me a bad person? Nope, cus I just done read me this one. But reckon as how I better git me some more Red River Mysteries y’all. – Whizz
Rating: Four Stars.
February 5, 2016
In the fifth excellent installment of Wortham's historical mystery series, it's the characters, sizzling action sequences, and tiny details that immerse you in the story from first page to last. With Ned out on the road looking for Pepper, other characters back home in Center Springs have to step up to the plate, and they do so in fine style. I was particularly impressed with Deputy Anna Sloan, a dedicated woman in a man's world who has a good eye for the telling detail. I look forward to seeing more of her.
With a runaway child and two cases involving suspicious deaths, there's a lot going on in Dark Places, but it never once gets confusing. Tiny little details catch the reader's eye as the story progresses... a patch of grass, a cat's behavior, insignia on jackets... but the characters bind everything together. There's a very well-disguised cold-blooded killer to be found, as well as a helpful young man who isn't exactly what he appears to be. When your nerves get frazzled over the danger Pepper's put herself into, you get to see Top back in Center Springs, disgusted that he's the only one who has to stay at home while everyone else is taking trips. Top does get to play a part in solving a crime or two from something that he reads, and that just serves to reinforce something I read recently in another mystery: No reading is ever wasted.
From rebellious teenagers to born killers to determined grandmothers to an old woman named Betty singing "O Holy Night," Reavis Wortham has taken us all on another period perfect excursion into the past that proves the strength of family and the need to do what's right, whatever the cost. This is one of my favorite series, and I'd no more miss an installment of it than I'd stop reading. I hope you join me in enjoying these books. It's best to start at the beginning-- The Rock Hole-- because Wortham's wonderful cast of characters grow and change. You won't want to miss a bit of that, I guarantee.
With a runaway child and two cases involving suspicious deaths, there's a lot going on in Dark Places, but it never once gets confusing. Tiny little details catch the reader's eye as the story progresses... a patch of grass, a cat's behavior, insignia on jackets... but the characters bind everything together. There's a very well-disguised cold-blooded killer to be found, as well as a helpful young man who isn't exactly what he appears to be. When your nerves get frazzled over the danger Pepper's put herself into, you get to see Top back in Center Springs, disgusted that he's the only one who has to stay at home while everyone else is taking trips. Top does get to play a part in solving a crime or two from something that he reads, and that just serves to reinforce something I read recently in another mystery: No reading is ever wasted.
From rebellious teenagers to born killers to determined grandmothers to an old woman named Betty singing "O Holy Night," Reavis Wortham has taken us all on another period perfect excursion into the past that proves the strength of family and the need to do what's right, whatever the cost. This is one of my favorite series, and I'd no more miss an installment of it than I'd stop reading. I hope you join me in enjoying these books. It's best to start at the beginning-- The Rock Hole-- because Wortham's wonderful cast of characters grow and change. You won't want to miss a bit of that, I guarantee.
July 28, 2015
Dark Places is the fifth novel in the Red River Mystery series by author Reavis Z. Wortham. This is a great series published by Poisoned Pen Press. I have immensely enjoyed the first four books in the series. Dark Places is a fabulous addition to this series.
Reavis Z. Wortham is an excellent author who not only takes the reader back to the 1960s, he weaves a tale that is impossible to put down. The suspense was intense as he wove the different stories together. Young Top and Pepper are still front and center along with their older Parker relatives. The small town tale centered around the disappearance of two gentlemen, the hit and run of a resident and torrential rains that would not quit. And at the beginning of the tale, young Pepper was still yearning to follow all the young hippies out to San Francisco.
Dark Places can easily stand alone but I highly recommend that you read this entire series. It is a wonderful journey back to the old timey world of small town Texas in the 1960s. Dark Places was a pleasure to read. I love these characters!
Highly recommend!
Reavis Z. Wortham is an excellent author who not only takes the reader back to the 1960s, he weaves a tale that is impossible to put down. The suspense was intense as he wove the different stories together. Young Top and Pepper are still front and center along with their older Parker relatives. The small town tale centered around the disappearance of two gentlemen, the hit and run of a resident and torrential rains that would not quit. And at the beginning of the tale, young Pepper was still yearning to follow all the young hippies out to San Francisco.
Dark Places can easily stand alone but I highly recommend that you read this entire series. It is a wonderful journey back to the old timey world of small town Texas in the 1960s. Dark Places was a pleasure to read. I love these characters!
Highly recommend!
August 18, 2015
No one is as they seem in this Center Springs, Texas community. When 2 salesmen are discovered murdered and buried in their car and another man is killed by hit and run Sheriff Cody Parker he knows has his hands full because in his community everyone knows everyone. Sheriff Parker with the help of Deputy Anna Sloan sets out to solve these crimes. Nobody thinks women should be members of the police force and as Deputy Sloan attempts to solve these crimes she comes across prejudice towards women which makes her job all the more difficult and then she is ambushed and things really start to go south. Meanwhile Constable Ned Parker goes in search of Pepper who has run off to join a cult after she suffers an assault at the hands of evil men from which she has not fully recovered. Not to mention the motorcycle gang that just may be the undoing of the Parker clan. This book was written during a time when laws were more laid back and there was no technology to catch criminals except good old fashioned police work.
June 21, 2016
3.5
Really liked this novel, but I wish I had started with the first book in the story. Although the story/murder mystery stood alone, it was quickly evident that I was missing quite a bit of back story on the characters. If his other novels are this good, it is worth going back to the beginning of the series!
Really liked this novel, but I wish I had started with the first book in the story. Although the story/murder mystery stood alone, it was quickly evident that I was missing quite a bit of back story on the characters. If his other novels are this good, it is worth going back to the beginning of the series!
November 13, 2015
This may well be my faviorte in the series. Having grown up in Dallas, and now living in Annona, Tx, and having traveled to California. I can relate very well to this book. I love the time setting, and watching the characters I've grown to know, elovove, and mature. Great job Reavis.
September 6, 2015
Wortham is in top form as Pepper runs off to join the love children in San Francisco, while back home there are some mysterious murders for Sheriff Cody to look into.
February 8, 2017
Thoroughly enjoying the entire series and would highly recommend.
October 23, 2023
I think I would have liked this book more if I had read the earlier ones in the series. Good story but a lot of references to earlier events from other books.
June 8, 2016
Good mystery from a local author. Love the characters of Top and Pepper.
Read
January 20, 2018Oh my my...love it
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews