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Montana Blues
Ray Ring, author
A determined Black man lands in the least-Black state. A spirited White woman welcomes him. Their friendship triggers racial violence on a spectacular landscape.
Dawson Koloko grew up playing football in a rough neighborhood of Long Beach, California. It helped him cope with a family tragedy and he’s tough enough to be recruited for the Montana State University team. He has culture shock landing in a place that’s very White and still wild.
Rose Fontaine grew up in Montana oilfields and, as she’s also wounded emotionally, she finds some relief making her living outdoors on horseback.
When a murder causes bad blood between Dawson and Rose, nevertheless they have to hunt the murderer together, dealing with White supremacists and biased cops. In the turmoil of shifting relationships, horse rides in stormy weather and an epic struggle on an almost-frozen lake, feels like everybody is on thin ice.
Reviews
This white-knuckle whodunit from Ring (Arizona Kiss) chronicles the search for a killer from the perspectives of the victim’s identical twin sister and the Black man wrongly accused of the crime. Five years ago, white Montana State University cheerleader Nikki Fontaine was strangled to death in her apartment. Her boyfriend, football star Dawson Koloko, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison after Nikki’s twin, Rose, discovered him unconscious next to Nikki’s body with scratches on his face. Now, Dawson’s attorney has successfully argued that police mishandled DNA evidence and Dawson’s conviction has been overturned. Determined to track down Nikki’s killer, he forms a wobbly alliance with Rose, who’s now married to the local sheriff, and the two uncover evidence that a white supremacist group may have been involved in Nikki’s murder. Ring steadily ratchets up the suspense while developing a surprisingly potent emotional dynamic between his well-drawn leads. John Sandford fans should take a look. (Self-published)
