The Sawtooth Slayer
by Nathan Dylan Goodwin. Self published. 2022. 342 pages.

Nathan Goodwin will be at RootsTech at his booth in the Expo Hall. He enjoys meeting and greeting his readers, so drop by and say hello.

The Sawtooth Slayer, a murder mystery set on the edge of the Sawtooth Range of the Rocky Mountains, in the small western city of Twin Falls, Idaho, is one more must-read story for the followers of Nathan Goodwin. A series of kidnappings and cruel murders have set the town on edge, and Detective Maria Gonzalez is tasked with solving the cases that have few leads and scant clues to a killer’s identity.

Detective Gonzalez turns to Madison Scott-Barnhart, and Madison’s staff at her  investigative genetic genealogy company, Venator, for help in solving the case. Madison has moved her work to home, amidst the Covid crisis, where personal family complications parallel the difficulties of crime-solving with DNA analytics and genealogy searches. 

The characters are well-developed and relatable, and the author does a good job weaving together the various threads of the story.  The genealogical aspect adds an intriguing layer to the mystery, and readers will find themselves drawn into the familiar world of genealogical problem-solving. 

After all these years of enjoying Mr. Goodwin’s books, I do have a criticism. I wish his books were better-produced. I wish the chapter headings, line spacing, margins, and chapter spacings were better formatted. More like the traditional formatting of novels; his pages are pretty dense with type, and my eyes are asking for a little white space. Some illustrations might be interesting, too, just something to break up the crowded pages full of text. I know Mr. Goodwin’s sense of image is skilled; his book covers are perfectly drawn for his stories. 

So on that slightly adverse note (although for an author, no critique is ever “slight”), Mr. Goodwin’s skillful storytelling and attention to detail make this a standout novel in the genre, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.

The Sawtooth Slayer is available from the author at: https://www.nathandylangoodwin.com/copy-of-the-chester-creek-murders, from Amazon, and most other online bookstores.