Treasure State by C.J. Box

TREASURE STATE is a mystery story by C.J. Box involving female private investigator Cassie Dewell. The setting is modern day Montana, specifically a small former mining town named Anaconda. Cassie is working simultaneously on two cases – one involves fraud and a slick operator who has stolen significant funds from her client, an older woman named Candyce Fly. The other involves a fortune that treasure seekers are competing to find. The founder of that hunt hires Cassie to see if see can find him – it is his contention that being hidden will make for a fairer contest. C.J. Box is a well-regarded author (Joe Pickett is another of his characters) and it should be no surprise that TREASURE STATE received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly. I greatly enjoyed the audio version read by Christina Delaine. The story is intricately plotted and while there are references to previous Cassie Dewell adventures (this is number six in the series), this Montana mystery is full of its own twists and turns and works as a stand-alone.