"Another good read in a very good series" - review of THE CROSSROADS

THE CROSSROADS by CJ Box (Head of Zeus, 2026)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

When Joe Pickett is shot in the line of duty, his daughters must work together to find his attacker. Marybeth Pickett gets the call she has always her husband Joe is unconscious after being shot in the head.

He was found slumped behind the wheel of his pickup at a crossroads linking the ranches of three powerful families. Each have reasons to want the Wyoming Game Warden dead, but with no witnesses, no one knows who pulled the trigger.

As Joe clings to life, Marybeth keeps watch while their daughters – Sheridan, Lucy, and April – play the role their father cannot, investigating each family to expose long-held grudges and reveal the truth.

Diving into a new novel starring Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett has become something of an annual tradition for plenty of crime readers over the past quarter century, as CJ Box’s likable protagonist, wild settings, and some fascinating storylines and family dynamics have built up a large following since an excellent debut with Open Range back in 2001.

Family has always been vital to Pickett; he’s something of an antithesis of the troubled, loner detective we often see in the genre (though he regularly works alone, and still finds plenty of trouble along the way). In The Crossroads the Pickett family has to come together in a way they never have before, when Joe is shot in the head on a road near the ranches of three powerful families.

While Marybeth keeps watch over her husband, barely clinging to life in hospital, their daughters Sheridan, Lucy, and April turn investigators, digging into the families and trying to work out who wants their Dad dead. In the 26th Joe Pickett novel (to go along with several short stories, and two good seasons of a sadly short-lived Paramount+ screen adaptation, starring Michael Dorman as the titular hero), Box throws readers a bit of a googly, mixing in familiar aspects with new.

With Box’s usual star somewhat sidelined – something that admittedly could frustrate some series readers, while others may really enjoy the change-up Box pitches - other characters come more to the fore, and the author once again demonstrates his very fine touch for rural landscapes and life, and the people and pressures that come with it. Another good read in a very good series.

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned writer, editor, podcast host, awards judge, and event chair. He's the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, co-founder of Rotorua Noir, author of Macavity and HRF Keating Award-shortlisted non-fiction work SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, editor of the DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER anthology series, and writes about books for magazines and newspapers in several countries.