Timber City Masks — Kieran York

Introducing Royce Madison, sheriff's department die-hard deputy and soft-spoken dyke-about-town. When Royce's father, the venerable Sheriff Grady Madison, was killed, his murder went unsolved. Haunted by her father's death, Royce vowed that no other murder would go unsolved in Timber City, Colorado.
In this intriguing adventure, Royce explores the boundaries of sexuality, racial prejudice, family loyalty, and small-town fears as she searches for the murderer of her lover's best friend. Possible suspects abound in the murder of the wealthy Trish Chandler-Sumner.
Was it her no-good, jealous husband Luther, who also happens to be the sheriff's brother? could it have been Ray, the gentle, guitar-playing, young Native American implicated by one questionable witness?
When Valeria, the object of Royce's obsession, reveals that she was sexually involved with the murdered woman, the table tilts. But who knows the truth? What mask hides the real killer?
Unsolved crime means we haven't struggled hard enough for the truth. I hate being robbed of truth. And if we accept the blank page and tag an innocent person, we're accepting a lie. When law enforcers do that, the law becomes neutralized. Our inaction can put us on the inside of a mask, looking out. No better than the perpetrator.   --Royce Madison