A dark literary thriller, Coeur d'Alene Waters follows Matt Worthson, a northern Idaho Sheriff's deputy searching for a murderer and along the way finding out the truth about the never-solved Sunshine Mine disaster. The debut offering from Northwest journalist Ned Hayes. ---------------------What is it about the Pacific Northwest that leads some into dark worlds of violence and despair? Had one-time north Idaho journalist Ned Hayes made this tantalizing question the centerpiece of his debut novel, he might have only created a derivative retelling of an all-too-familiar serial killer plot. Instead, he takes the idea for this well-written literary thriller from the historical facts of the still-unsolved Sunshine Mine disaster in 1972, and winds it tight around the troubled central figure of Matt Worthson, a one time candidate for Sheriff in Coeur d'Alene. Worthson, suffering from a broken marriage and a suspect car accident, is pulled into a tangled history of corrupt politics, separatist plots, and powerful interests who control the lucrative Idaho mining industry.  The novel opens with the discovery of the mutilated body of a chaplain who works with the police department, and seems to point towards a local serial killer who is again on the loose. But this tried and true plot soon moves in a more complicated direction, as Worthson's own motivations and past crimes are brought under the microscope.Partnered with Lieutenant Russell White - a more able politician and an increasingly erratic friend - Worthson finds himself unexpectedly encumbered with a young wanna-be white supremacist who knows about his missing son. The story of the Sunshine Mine disaster itself is told in a flashback that is both compelling and heart-rending, as Worthson struggles withhis father's impending death, and the secrets his father still refuses to reveal about the mine disaster - the truth of which has important implications for Worthson's investigation.These disparate threads are woven adroitly together by Hayes, as Coeur d'Alene Waters accelerates towards a dark yet profoundly fitting conclusion. Hayes creates a gritty Northwest-flavored saga with a protagonist who is deeply imperfect, yet strives always towards redemption. Coeur d'Alene Waters is a solidly written murder mystery with a haunting finish, reminiscent of the best of Ridley Pearson or the early work of fellow Washington writer Jess Walter.            -- Book Note, Featured Review