The Height of Secrecy
"An engaging mystery with strong characters and a wonderfully authentic setting in the Southwest. Keep your eye on this nascent series."
-Southwest Writers, judges for the Colorado Authors' League Writing Award. 2015 Award for Mainstream Fiction.
"Loved it. A mystery with strength and realism. Mitchell's background leads to a blended masterpiece of plot, setting and characters complete with insider authenticity. He's got a good series going."
- BETTY PALMER, Events Coordinator, Moby DIckens Bookshop, Taos, NM
"What Grisham does for law and the courtroom drama, Mitchel does for national parks and the politics of land and preservation. His behind the scenes knowledge of the subculture creates a believable setting that blends seamlessly with the story."
-ISAAC MAYO, Developmental Editor
"...This was a fun read. The characters are believable, the rescue and fire scenes ring true, and Mitchell worked for the agency long enough that he knows how things can go bad..."
-RANGER: The Journal of the Association of National Park Rangers.
prairie plum press
“... a good read, a pull-no-punches tale of the struggle with outsiders vs. residents, urban vs. rural, and traditional vs. modern. Mitchell gives as balanced a glimpse of the issues, the politics, and the spirit of the West and Kenya in this novel as one will find anywhere... He shows how all sides will often find themselves in a different cut of the “emperor’s new clothes.”
- Mark Lehnertz, Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver
Killing Godiva's Horse
"Do you like books that hit the ground running and pull you into multiple plot lines that will converge, 200 pages later, in a heart-thumping climax? Then this week's SunLit excerpt is right in your wheelhouse. J.M. Mitchell, who formerly worked for the National Park Service, brings that experience to bear in the thriller Killing Godiva's Horse. In the excerpt, he deftly frames his storylines involving rhinos, wild horses, politics and dead bodies in scenes from Kenya to Washington, D.C. And in the SunLit interview, he explains how his years in the parks inspired him to pursue this genre."
-COLORADO SUN, SunLit, July 26, 2019
REVIEWS OF THE JACK CHASTAIN MYSTERIES BY J.M. MITCHELL
"Ranger Jack Chastain of the National Park Service is an intriguing and welcome series protagonist. Truly refreshing, this novel contains plots that involve Western lands rebellion, Kenya, rhino horn poachers, and life in New Mexico. Perhaps those elements make this book unwieldy but bless J.M. Mitchell for trying. He has taken on a big, international, action-packed plot and it works."
- ROUNDUP MAGAZINE, April 2019 (Western Writers of America)
"... an intriguing story about ranger Jack Chastain, who was caught in the intersection - as many of us have been - between resources protection and politics. ... full of interesting characters. This is a fun book to read. Mitchell develops his characters fully so the reader can understand their motivations and anxieties. The plot is believable because it mirrors much of what is happening today. I'm glad I read it."
- RANGER, the Journal of the Assn. of National Park Rangers
Author of the Jack Chastain / National Park Mysteries
J.M. MITCHELL
Public Trust, the first of the Jack Chastain mysteries by J.M. Mitchell
"In Public Trust, J.M. Mitchell brings a richness to the wilderness mystery that's not to be missed. Fire starts the novel and it burns fast and furious, but pales to the political firestorm that becomes a battle for nature herself."
- Nevada Barr, New York Times bestselling author.
"Have you ever read a piece of fiction where the dilemmas that the main character faces are so familiar and real that you think you are reading non-fiction? That’s the way I felt when reading Public Trust. This is a good read..."
-Ranger: The Journal of the Association of National Park Rangers