Detective Beth McDade is just trying to survive and maybe find some redemption for her past, which is why she is working in the scorching Mohave desert. Called to the scene of a man hit and killed when he ran in front of a motorhome, every clue she finds sends her farther down a path that keeps going deeper and deeper to a conclusion Beth cannot believe. Military secrets, a man who went missing days ago, but when his bones are found they've been buried for nearly one hundred years. How is that possible....

#FirstLine ~ The walls in Beth McDade’s dark bedroom were bare.

Calico by Lee Goldberg is a gripping and atmospheric mystery novel that takes readers on a thrilling journey through the sun-baked, unforgiving landscape of Barstow, California. In a city where the interstate leads only one way—away, we meet the resilient ex-LAPD detective, Beth McDade, who is seeking a shot at redemption following a dramatic fall from grace. Her journey for a second chance leads her to the enigmatic town of Calico, a struggling mining community with a history as mysterious as the desert that surrounds it.

As the story unfolds, the web of intrigue tightens, leading to a revelation that could change the world. Calico is a mesmerizing tale of secrets, redemption, and the inexorable ties that bind the past to the present. The author's ability to blend history, mystery, and character development into a cohesive and enthralling narrative makes this novel a must-read for fans of detective fiction and historical mysteries. Lee Goldberg's Calico will keep you guessing until the very end, and it's a compelling story that will stay with you long after you've turned the final page.

Without doubt the most original novel of the books I have read recently is the genre-bending Calico by Lee Goldberg.

Set in Barstow, California, a decaying city in the scorching Mojave desert, the story opens with an unidentified vagrant being struck down by a motorhome. The investigating officer is ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade, who has come to Barstow after a staggering fall from grace. As Beth digs into the case she makes a series of startling discoveries, including a mysterious old skeleton in a shallow grave. With every disturbing clue she uncovers, Beth finds herself confronting her own troubled past and questioning her grip on reality. While in another storyline, set a hundred years ago, a desperate stranger is trying to establish a new life in the struggling mining town of Calico, not far from present day Barstow.

It is hard to go further into the plot without ruining the enjoyment of the various surprises. There are extraordinary elements to the story, but Goldberg keeps it all well grounded with his solid police investigation plot and his flawed and credible characters. Beth McCade is a convincing, engaging creation who is trying to make up for mistakes in her past, while the ‘stranger’ in Calico is also well crafted.

Goldberg skilfully alternates between the two storylines, and both move along at a good pace and maintain a high level of interest throughout. The details of the investigation, and Beth’s other cases, are well handled and the book builds to a neat climax, with a nice final twist.

The less traditional elements of Goldberg’s book are well grounded by the convincing detail of Beth’s investigation, while the historical elements are also nicely limned in believable hues.

In all, a really enjoyable tale that kept me engrossed from beginning to end.

On February 2nd 2019, San Bernadino homicide detective, Beth McDade is called to an accident outside a local diner. A man dressed like a miner from the 1800s has been hit by a motor home. From the way he is dressed, Beth assumes he is one of the actors from the local Calico tourist attraction. However, an autopsy throws up some strange anomalies. Not only is he dressed in authentic clothes from the nineteenth century, the wear and tear on his body bears all the hallmarks of someone who had lived during that time.
On the same night, there is another incident. A man called Owen Slader, disappears while driving from Las Vegas to Los Angeles on his way to visit his daughter. The last location from his mobile phone shows he was on the same road. Two days later, as a construction company begin excavation work to build a new residential development, they discover an old coffin. Inside are the remains of Owen Slader. Analysis of his skeleton indicate he died over one hundred years ago.
This is a very atmospheric story and one I had difficulty putting down. There’s a great sense of place, whether we’re with Owen in nineteenth century Calico, or Beth in the present day, as they both take turns with the narrative of this time slip crime story. Both Owen and Beth’s experiences weave seamlessly throughout the book, and then right at the end, just when you think that's it, there is an unexpected little twist. It’s a compelling read, well researched and one that had me hooked straight away. I usually read and review psychological thrillers and crime. This was crime, but different…in a good way. Loved it!
I would like to thank the author, Severn House Publishing, and Netgalley for an ARC of Calico in exchange for an honest review.

You know you are onto a winner when you find yourself smiling as you read. I did that a lot while I was reading Lee Goldberg’s Calico. Our protagonist is Beth McDade, a detective working for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office in Barstow but based in the one horse town of Baker. Beth is smart, resilient, impulsive and slightly fatally attracted to men. That’s why she’s in Barstow and not still working for the LAPD.

Beth is indulging in her favourite off duty activity – her second favourite is visiting the wonderfully named Pour Decisions bar – when she gets a call. A man has been run down and killed outside a diner in the Mojave Desert by a couple driving a motorhome. An elderly couple were driving and momentarily distracted by a lightning strike, failed to see the man who ran straight into their path. He was wearing old, dirt caked vintage clothing and had nothing on him that could identify him, though his pockets contained some things that would not have been out of place in the late 1800’s.

The coroner tells Beth this is a tragedy rather than a crime. Further enquiries in the area lead to nothing – no-one seems to know who this man was.

Then Beth is asked to try and find a missing man. 35 year old Owen Slader is a chef and food writer/influencer. It transpires that he went missing on the same day, at the same time and in the same area as Beth’s hit and run corpse.

Calico is a dual timeline story that takes a deadly and puzzling police procedural, adds a pretty serious element of military secrecy and infuses it with a western flavour.

This is an enthralling book that kept me turning the pages with ever growing speed, keen to know where his story was going to go next. It is very well researched and because it is, Goldberg is able to bring us a vivid and authentic portrait of the town of Calico, where these mysteries converge.

Goldberg’s writing makes his characters feel like flesh and blood and enables us to root for them, even as he makes them twist and turn in this hydra like story.

Calico is a wonderful mixture of great dialogue, fascinating characters and historical accuracy. It takes Beth, with the help of Coroner Amanda Selby’s forensic science, to cast blazing light over the whole picture. Goldberg’s puzzle is well-paced, his sense of time and place is pitch perfect and his characters are terrific.

Verdict: It’s hard to say more without moving into spoiler territory, but Calico is such a well told tale that it deserves to find a huge audience. Even if you think it’s not for you, give it a try. I’m still smiling and that makes it a must read.

Calico Lee Golding

5 stars

Is time travel real?

Detective Beth McDade has been sent to work in Barstow, California a small town in the Mojave desert, after being banished from the Los Angeles force due to a disciplinary problem.

She has settled down here although the work is not particularly inspiring. However everything changes when she sees a man being run over by a motorhome. As she examines his body she realises that his attire is from another time at least 100 years ago. At almost the same time she discovers that a man called Owen Slade has disappeared into thin air.

Not long after this, Beth finds some skeletal remains which are from the late 19th century but have modern dentistry and medical procedures. Are these two victims connected and if so how?

We move away from the current day and discover that Owen Slade has indeed stepped back in time and has been transported to a mining community called Calico. The story jumps between Owen’s description of his life in a basic and primitive mining community and the present day where Beth comes to realise that there is indeed time travel but how can she ever prove it? There are also government agencies who will stop at nothing to prevent the real truth from being known.

I really enjoyed this book, originally I thought it would just be another detective story but the description of life in the last century was really interesting and the author has obviously researched a lot about Calico and what life was like then. I also enjoyed the character of Beth who is certainly a feisty lady. I would like to read more by this author.




Karen Deborah
Netgalley

What an excellent read! I’m not familiar with Lee Goldberg’s books, so I came to this with no expectations. This is a well paced police, investigative, procedural, mystery in and around Calico in modern day California, inextricably linked to events over 100 years earlier in the same location.

The plot kicks along at a nice pace, with elements of the story and the mystery being revealed throughout - with lots of surprises along the way. I found the central character, Beth McDade, interesting and likeable. She has a chequered past, with some aspects of her character that still get her into degrees of trouble - but she is competent, determined and loyal, giving her the doggedness to get to the bottom of the complex events she’s investigating.

The parallel story in 1880’s Calico paints a vivid picture of life in a small mining community, which felt real and alive to me, with a good mix of supporting characters.

The story kept me on my toes the whole way through. The uncovering and resolving of each layer of mystery was satisfying without being predictable, and I was intrigued by how all the threads would be resolved right to the end.

My only minor gripe is that the central theme of the book is left unmentioned for the first 7 chapters, despite being (to me) very obvious, which I found quite frustrating. Although perhaps that’s just me, as it’s also not mentioned in the blurb, so I won’t reveal it here. It certainly didn’t distract from a 5-star review for an incredibly engaging and interesting read.

Thank you #NetGalley and Severn House for the free review copy of #CalicoBook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

At first I thought this was simply a detective novel having never read any of Lee's novels before.
An interesting read and unlike any other I have read before.
Reminder me a bit of the style of Dean Koontz and Harlen Corbin but a gentler story with much less violence/horror.

Entertaining and different

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Lee Goldberg, and Severn House for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Everything that I have read by Lee Goldberg has kept me enthralled and this newest novel is no exception. Goldberg utilises his abilities in writing police procedurals with a career working in television to develop this piece, which adds a little mind- and time-bending to keep the reader hooked. A small California community comes to life when a man dies in a motor vehicle mishap around the time a freak weather event and explosion occur. What’s even more confusion is his state of dress and presentation. That is further exacerbated when a local man disappears into thin air around the same time, leaving Detective Beth McDade to piece things together. What follows is a mystery that no one saw coming, with ties across decades and through a rooted family tree. Goldberg does a brilliant job with this piece, keeping the reader hooked until the final page turn.

Those who have heard of Barstow, California, know that this dusty town in the Mojave desert is destination for no one, save those trying to flee its confines. Such is the truth that Detective Beth McDade has come to discover since being forced from the LAPD. With a past she chooses to shelve, Detective McDade has found this small area and calls it home.

After arriving at the scene of a man run over by a motor home, Detective McDade wonders why she is here. It is only when she examines the victim, who has no signs of being from around Barstow, that McDade sees the oddities. The man’s presentation and state of attire are from another time, which baffles those who saw what happened. Add to this, Owen Slader disappears into thin air. Something is surely amiss and all Detextive MxDade can decipher is that there was something going on at the local military base. Witnesses saw a fork of lightning, but nothing can substantiate events enough to put the mysteries to rest.

Not long thereafter, McDade finds some skeletal remains, adding to the ongoing confusion. The skeleton shows signs of modern medical advancements, but also has deteriorated.to the point that it must have been from the late 19th century. Could this skeleton and the man who died on the interstate be connected in some odd way? Detective McDade will stop at noting to connect the dots, even if there’s s no way of making sense of them.

Owen Slader has his own story here, a man who disappeared into thin air and emerged in the middle of Calico, California. A mining community is nothing like the modern community in which he was living, but it holds new and valuable assets. Slader takes on a new identity and tries to make a life for himself in the 1880s, while leaving clues that he is not from this time. He plants roots and tries to help those from his future life better understand what’s happened to him.

As the truth soon emerges and she must make a pronouncement, Detective McDade realises that she has something out of this world on her hands, with no chance of tying the mystery up in a tight bow. There are forces she could not have expected trying to silence her, with others seeking answers from a fore-bearer who appears to have straddled two points in time. Goldberg does well to pace this book and keep things going for all to enjoy until the final reveal.

There is something about Lee Goldberg and his writing that has long excited me. I love his description and how he uses his narrative to paint a picture the reader can easily see as thy keep reading. While things may appear a tad “science fiction” on the surface, there is a great mystery afoot and the reader is in the middle of it all. There are great developments, though the reader will have to keep up or risk losing it all.

Characters emerge with ease and Goldberg knows how to place them in such a way that they cannot help but impact the larger storyline. While Beth McDade remains central throughout, she pales at times in comparison to the life of Owen Slader, whose existence has also been turned upside down. Goldberg depicts all this with ease and great detail, entertaining the reader while flavoring the narrative.

It is the plot twisting that takes centre stage in this piece. Goldberg knows how to tell a story and add folds to the linear presentation to keep the reader from guessing too much. There is little time to rests on one’s laurels, though Goldberg makes the adventure something exciting that all can enjoy. The book plays out like a great television movie, which shows Goldberg’s influences. I cannot wait to see what else he has in store for readers and where things are headed with his writing.

Kudos, Mr. Goldberg, for opening my mind to something well outside my usual reading comfort zone.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was an interesting read. Thank you to the writer, publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book

A very entertaining time travel mystery that I found funny and enjoyable with some memorable characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review

3.5 Stars. This is a unique, believable story involving time travel. It takes place in two timelines: the present (2019) and on the outskirts of the Mojave desert in 1882.

Disgraced detective Beth McDade has been exiled to Bistrow, a place no one wants to live. She hopes that by working hard to solve some mysterious events that happened on February 2, 2019, she can redeem herself as a talented detective. It is not unusual that many modern fictional detectives are written as flawed individuals: gambling, drinking, overly medicated, dysfunctional home lives, etc. I am not sure that making Beth a heavy drinker and sex addict was a favourable move.

Bright flashes of electricity and loud noises occur from a nearby marine base. At the same time, on February 2, an alarmed vagrant rushes into the street and is killed by a motor vehicle. He is filthy, has lice, and an advanced case of syphilis. His ragged clothing is the sort only made in the 1800s, and his pockets contain old coins. Has he been living remotely as a desert hermit for years? A car engine lands in a home. A type of bear believed to be extinct has been discovered. There are a series of robberies to be investigated. More mysteriously, a famous chef, Owen Sadler, driving from Los Vegas to LA to visit his daughter, vanishes near Bistrow along with his car and technical devices. After a few days, construction workers unearth an ancient skeleton buried 130 years earlier. Modern dental and medical implants identify the body to be that of Owen Sadler. How is this possible? The book seemed longer than necessary, with some past threads that were dropped.

We follow the life of Sadler, thrust into the old silver mining town of Calico in 1882 with no way back to the present. He is an admirable, fascinating character who is determined to make the best of his life in the filthy town with little water and a foul stench. He invents a profitable job for himself in a town of impoverished miners and renames himself Ben Cartright (Ponderosa). He makes a list based on his knowledge of the future for the benefit of his descendants, naming dangerous places to avoid and future companies to invest in.

As Beth investigates, she is convinced time travel actually happened. The marines are convinced something strange occurred from their experiments but are unsure to what extent things went wrong. They are determined to cover everything up and threaten Beth to end her investigation. The story ends with Beth gathering those connected in the present at the home of a wealthy Cartright descendant to explain what she has learned.
This is the first book I have read by Lee Goldberg, but was a big fan of the Monk TV series that he wrote. Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for introducing me to this author, and I would definitely read more of his books. Publication is due on November 7.

Another fun and entertaining book by Lee Goldberg. A bit different from his previous work but it was fun to read a different kind of detective story. It reminded me of Back to the Future part three and I loved the movie and tv show references. As always with Goldberg, the book was well written and the characters well developed. I highly recommend this book.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the copy.

Lee Goldberg is the prolific author of a number of long running crime series and also responsible for a number of TV shows including Monk and Diagnosis Murder. In Calico he tries out a bit of a genre mash. There is definitely a crime procedural element here. But Calico is also a bit of a western and a bit of a science fiction novel aswell. While disbelief needs to be well and truly suspended, Goldberg has the chops to deliver engaging characters and an enjoyable ride.
Ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade is doing her time as an investigator in the sleepy town of Barstow California. Nearby Barstow are two army bases and the replica mining town of Calico, a reconstructed tourist attraction based on the actual town that flourished during a silver rush in the 1880s. Beth’s world is shaken up when a man is run over by an RV outside a diner near Calico. The man’s antique clothing and appearance is not the only strange thing to happen on the same night which also includes another man going missing. McDade starts to find details about the two cases that do not add up, including an interest of the military. At the same time, and for reasons that connect to McDade’s investigation, Goldberg takes readers to Calico during its boom years. He, of course, includes a bit of lampshading of other books and movies that have used a similar conceit and has fun with the idea of alien conspiracy theories along the way.
The trick with Calico is not to think too deeply about it. Goldberg has delivered pure, escapist, speculative fiction deftly anchored by some standard crime genre conventions.

No matter what the topic or genre, I'm always up for reading any book by one of my favorite authors. That said, it pays to pay attention: had I noticed the genres in which this one is included (e.g., Science Fiction and Time Travel), I wouldn't have been quite so perplexed when it turned out to be quite different from what I expected. But once I got into the groove, I was hooked - and I marveled that anyone could come up with such an intricate plot that doesn't have holes in it large enough to drive a spaceship through (and happily, one that leaves the door open for more to come).

It's hard to cough up a review without spoiling things for other readers, but the story centers on homicide detective Beth McDade, who managed to land a job with the somewhat remote San Bernadino County Sheriff's Barstow Station after being dumped from the LAPD for doing something that comes naturally once or twice too often. These days, she spends a bunch of time at a local pub called Pour Decisions (gotta love it) but solving crime not so much. That changes when she's called to the scene after a screaming man ran right into a van driven by an elderly couple on their way to Las Vegas (an accident; they were sent on their way). But the dead guy has no identification; a bigger mystery, though, is why he's wearing clothing from the 1800s and is in poor health. But wait, there's more: not long afterward, construction workers unearth human bones that are quite old - except for the titanium implants in the elbows. Whoops!

As Beth and local coroner Amanda Selby try to figure out what's going on, readers get the full monty by way of chapters that provide timely (or maybe I should say untimely) insights into the past. By the end, of course, everything comes together, complete with a twist I sure didn't see coming. The whole thing is entertaining and kind of mind-blowing, and for sure I'll be watching for the next installment. Meantime, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the privilege of reading a pre-release copy.

This story within a story moves from the twentieth century to an old mining town and back. The characters are engaging and entertaining with a great sense of humor in connecting the past they have landed in and have to contend with and the future they know they are creating. Add to that mix a government coverup of its involvement in time travel and the circle is complete.

A fabulously written gripping story that was a pleasure to read. I would absolutely recommend this book, it was brilliant

If you are looking for something different in your reading life, you can't go wrong with Lee Goldberg's new standalone, Calico. I love being surprised by a book, and this one astonished and delighted me at every turn. It's an exceedingly clever mashup of police procedural and historical Western adventure, with a strong component of science fiction. You'll find out about the latter very early in the book, so I won't spoil it here.

The police procedural stars disgraced homicide detective Beth McDade in the Mojave desert town of Barstow, CA, the only place that would hire her. She's investigating two recent, unexplainable deaths--an old man, killed in a motor home accident, whose bones and clothing prove to be over 100 years old, and a local chef and influencer who abruptly disappeared the same day, but whose soon-discovered skeleton is also 100+ years old. Beth suspects it might not be a coincidence that there were explosions at two nearby military bases on that very same day. The other half of the plot focuses on Owen, the man who disappeared, and what really happened to him. More details about the story would be spoilers, and you owe it to yourself to read this book to find out for yourself. Trust me, you won't regret it!

I grew to appreciate Beth more and more as the story progressed, for her dogged pursuit of answers in the face of growing resistance from the authorities. even when the answers seemed impossible. Her friendship with her coroner colleague, the pregnant Amanda, is an important and welcome respite from the often-grim occurrences. The author's research makes one of the venues, a real-life silver mining town in the late 1880s, come to life. Now a ghost town and tourist attraction,
Calico as depicted by Goldberg is full of authentic Wild West atmosphere, sights, and particularly smells. I was enthralled by both Owen's fascinating life, as it is revealed, and by Beth's determination to work her way through a uber-difficult situation and bring closure that will benefit all of the parties involved. The chases are enthralling and the science fiction portion, while requiring at least some suspension of disbelief, is compelling. This book has it all.

My thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

What a brilliant book this was. I’m not usually a fan of this type of genre where time travel is suggested as they are normally too far fetched. Calico however was so well written with brilliant characters and it alternated seemlessly between the 1880’s to 2019. When detective Beth McDade is called out to a road accident where an apparent vagrant has been killed by a motor home it appears just a sad incident but when the victims clothes appear to be over 100 years old she is completely puzzled. At the same time Owen finds himself in a terrifyingly bizarre situation that would have most people unable to cope. When travelling on a journey through the Mojave desert a strange lightning storm occurs he is suddenly off the road and in the middle of nowhere. What happened? Well no more spoilers from me but this book is one of fear, confusion and despair but also of love and hope. The unsanitary conditions of the 1880’s where disease is rife and life is unbelievable tough and dangerous are described so well you can almost smell the grim town and dirty inhabitants. A fast paced book that had me absolutely gripped from start to finish. I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t read any of this author’s previous books but will certainly seek out more in the future. Or maybe the past…..Thoroughly recommended.

Genre-bending thrill.
A tidy romp through time with
fun, flawed characters.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I write haiku reviews but am happy to provide more feedback.