I picked up The Bitterroots by C.J. Box for my 50 States Challenge (Montana and Idaho) and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s the fifth in the Cassie Dewell series, and since I haven’t read the previous books, I came in cold. No backstory, no context. Just me, a PI I’ve never met, and a backwoods family that put the fun in dysfunctional (and by fun, I mean terrifying).
The story starts a bit slow, I won’t lie. But somewhere around page 112, I stopped putting the book down altogether. By the last 150 pages, I was flying.
This was my first time meeting Cassie Dewell, and she’s got it all: Integrity, brains, and the kind of persistence I can relate to. She doesn’t quit even when she probably should. (Personally, I would’ve gone home after spending the night in the pokey.)
And then there’s the Kleinsassers. O. M. G. Entitled, cruel, and powerful enough to bend an entire town to their will. The entitled snobbery tinged with evil practically jumps off the page. If corruption had a family crest, it would be theirs. The kind of people who don’t just sweep things under the rug. They bury the whole house and burn the blueprints.
The mystery itself took a minute to win me over. A man accused of assault claims innocence...it’s not the most original premise. But then Cassie starts hitting roadblocks, and you realize something’s not right. Why fight an investigation that’s supposed to prove guilt? Why set him up in that particular way? The more Cassie pushed, the twistier the road got, and I enjoyed every turn.
The Montana setting was perfect. Beautiful, remote, rugged—and the only place a family like the Kleinsassers could exist without the entire world noticing. In a big city they’d either be in jail or running for office. (Or both.)
There are some dark, disturbing themes in this book, but Box handles them with care. Nothing is sensationalized, and everything that happens adds to the urgency of justice. And let me tell you, I was ready to torch the whole fictional town just to get some.
Bottom line: I loved this book. I’m already planning to go back and start the Cassie Dewell series from the beginning. So if anyone wants to enable my habit, I’ll take a list of the series in order and maybe a gift card or two.