Bluebird, bluebird (2017)

Two murders in an East Texas town pull Texas Ranger Darren Mathews between his badge, his roots and the competing accounts of what happened. Locke makes those loyalties part of the first investigation, rather than postponing the character's difficult choices until a later volume. The result is rural noir with a tightly felt setting and a lead whose judgement has consequences. Begin the Highway 59 sequence here; the case supplies immediate substance while Darren's family and professional troubles continue beyond it.