Big Lake Books In Order
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Big Lake Series by Nick Russell is a set of detective mystery series by one of the most popular RVers in the United States. Nick used to work in weekly and daily newspapers in Arizona, Oregon, and Washington before he turned to blogging about RVs fulltime. He would then spent nearly two decades living the outdoors lifestyle and exploring the American countryside. He wrote about his experiences in “Gypsy Journal TV” a popular travel magazine that he ran. Russell has also spoken at many RV rallies across the United States. He now spends much of his time in Florida and travels for most of the year. Apart from the Big Lake series of novels, he has also written the “Dog’s Run,” series “John Lee Quarrels “ series and the single standing novel “Black Friday.”
Nick Russell wrote his first novel “Big Lake” set in Arizona’s White Mountains in 1998. However, he would sit on the novel for several years since his nonfiction work had a huge following and he did not have confidence in his fiction yet. It took years of pressure from friends and nagging from his wife who had read the manuscript before he agreed to publish the novel. He decided to self-publish the book on Kindle in 2011 and was pleasantly surprised when it went on to become a bestseller on Amazon. He still works at his computer everyday publishing the “Gypsy Journal,” the twice a month newspaper about everything RV. He also publishes three other blogs apart from the RV journal and asserts that he has been lucky to make his living writing for much of his life.
Russell came up with the idea for the first Big Lake novel after mulling over it in a period of less than a week. He would find inspiration about the series when watching TV and when he told his wife, she told him that he had to write it and he did. The setting of the series was inspired by the small town in the White Mountains of northern Arizona where he lived and was the owner of the local newspaper. It felt like the perfect setting to place a detective sheriff investigating crimes that did not need the sophistication of the big cities. The lead character in the series is a Jim Webber, the Sheriff of the small town of Big Lake deep in the mountains of Arizona. It is a town where nothing much happens given its eclectic mix of country-folk that populate it. Sheriff Weber works alone at the start though he does get some help from others such as FBI agents and later on in the novels he is assisted by his deputies. Weber injects some good-natured humor into his investigations, which makes for quite some interesting reading. The plots of the series also come with all manner of turns and twists that keep the reader thumbing through the pages. The combination of intrigue and humor has been described as something similar to “Mayberry Meets Twin Peaks” and showcases why the novels, particularly the first of the series conquered the Ppaid Kindle charts on Amazon for nearly three months.
“Big Lake” the first novel of the series is set in northeast Arizona desert, a setting full of lakes and ponderosa pines. The small town of Big Lake is located high in the mountains and is a place where everybody knows everybody. But then something unusual happens when two men guarding an armored car are killed by hijackers. Sheriff Jim Weber is determined to resolve the murder mystery given that one of the dead men is his brother in law and the crime happened in Big Lake. But since it is murder the feds are also interested in the case and send in a case officer to help him. His investigations soon has him deeply immersed in a world of violence, deceit, sordid sex, a family of anti-government survivalists. He also has to deal with the usual small-town characters such as the crusty and tough barmaid, bubba and his family and the raspy old lady. He learns that one of the guards was a serial womanizer and going through his list of conquests, Weber thinks he can find a few likely suspects. The plot really heats up from that point as things get complicated. Along the way he manages to get himself entangled with a beautiful woman or two before the story culminates in an unexpected climax and resolution of the murder mystery.
“Big Lake Lynching” the second novel of the series opens to the discovery of a young Apache man found hanging on a tree. The FBI agent Larry Parks teams up with Sheriff Jim Weber to hunt for the killers of the man. Big Lake had always been an idyllic spot but when their investigation comes to a close, the image is ripped to pieces as the town reveals its long-buried hatred, resentments, and prejudices. Sheriff Weber’s and Park’s investigations has them dealing with Native American activists, a father and son team that terrorize people in town, a teenager with more troubles than her age should allow, and a kinky coupe with tempers as hot as their passion among many other memorable characters. The novel also does include some of the characters from the first novel of the series including many other interesting ones that are introduced.
“Crazy Days in Big Lake” the third novel of the Big Lake series is an intriguing page-turner. It would seem that everything and everyone in Big Lake the small mountain community in Arizona just went berserk. The town mascot just went missing presumed stolen, neighbors are threatening violence, dogs are being chased into houses by wild bears, the streets are full of eco-protestors, the grocery manager barricaded himself inside his store, flower children have been discovered camping in the forest and the Buttercup Café has just been the scene of a fight between two of Weber’s deputies. To make matters worse an intruder has just been shot trying to break into the home of a retired mild-mannered couple. By the end of the wild ride, there will be several pints of bloodshed. The town’s residents will be left wondering if all they ever thought about their town was nothing but a mirage.
Book Series In Order » Characters »
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Recently read ‘Big Lake Accident’ from cover to cover iwithin a few hours of when I got it.
As all of Nick’s mysteries do, this one contained a great mix of characters, questions and humor. I felt like I was actually in Big Lake where I was enjoying the company and the growing town.
I eagerly await the next book he writes.
I have enjoyed the Big Lake series.Looking forward to Big Lake Accident. Hope it will be out soon
I have read your Big Lake series twice already and loved every minute Now I want to know what happened to Big Lake Accident, I read the first chapter and cannot find the book anywhere. what happen to it. Can’t wait to read the rest of the book. your # one fan
I can’t seem to find any information about that book.
Great series, Just finished Big Lake Drunk and am wondering ig there will bw more in the series. Thank you for good reads.