Private investigator Cassie Dewell has just been hired by two people with very different needs. One is a lady looking for the man who stole her fortune, and the other is a man asking Cassie to find him.
He claims to have written a poem that will lead to treasure. Whilst people are dying in the hunt for the elusive bounty, Cassie sets her sights on tracking him down and at the same time helping her first client too.
The trail for both of her quests take her to the mining town of Anaconda in Montana. A town that has its secrets and hides a dark side, but does it hold the secrets that Cassie is looking for?
CJ Box writes with a class and style unlike any other author. He is a master at bringing the outdoors to life. Box creates a tense and riveting story that draws the reader in and doesn’t let go until the end. This is Cassie Dewell at her finest.
Another outstanding book by one of the best authors around. Just brilliant.

Cassie Dewell is back and doing her best in the private investigation world. Following what was a contentious shooting of a uniformed officer in her previous encounter with death, Dewell is at the forefront of a long and mysterious hunt for a conman swindling millions.

Cassie Dewell has a long and well notarized career in law enforcement, even though it is overshadowed by actions of others along the way. From being a rookie cop being taught by an experienced veteran to the life of a private investigator, she has seen the worst in humanity. This isn’t a Lizard King follow up, this is a story of redemption for those who have lost everything. Only if she’s able to put the pieces together and find the culprit.

Candace Fly, widowed millionaire, is living her best south Florida life when Marc Daly comes along and woos her to no end. His charm, appeal, ability to listen, and capacity to indulge her need for attention leads to a large sum of money in the wrong hands, never to be seen again. Fly elicits the business of J.D. Spengler, a Tampa Bay private investigator to hunt down Mr. Daly. After a few weeks of city hoping on the victims’ dime, Spengler quits answering his phone. Cassie Dewell is called upon to put Dewell Investigations on the job. Cassie hops in and takes charge of the weird situation surrounding the missing man and the missing millions.

Cassie is close with a guy by the name of Kyle Westergaard. After saving him from being kidnapped when he was younger, Kyle is on the hunt for the untold millions in gold from ‘Sir Scott’s Treasure’. Kyle is a gentle soul that doesn’t mean anyone any harm while he continues to try Cassie’s patience, but what he lacks in ability to interact with people is a plus with his ability to listen. Is he going to break the case for Cassie?

Montana is known for a lot, resources, beauty, and being wide open but it will bring the walls closing in it will feel like a trap. Cassie Dewell will have to use clever deception and relentlessness to find the truth while watching her back every step of the way. With millions in gold to be found and millions taken from unsuspecting people, Dewell is in a life-or-death adventure that will change history forever. C.J. Box is as exciting as they come and he sets up Cassie Dewell to make a reputation nationwide if the case can be solved.

Treasure State by C. J. Box is a very highly recommended procedural featuring Montana Private Investigator Cassie Dewell.

Cassie has two investigations underway in this complex, entertaining novel. The first one is finding the charming man who conned a wealthy widow out of millions of dollars. She called Cassie to take on the case after the Florida PI she hired disappeared while tracking down a suspect to Anaconda, Montana. Cassie soon learns that the case is bigger than she originally thought.

The second case is an unusual one. A poem is written by an anonymous author giving clues how to find a buried treasure worth millions and the search is on by treasure hunters. Cassie, however, is hired by the anonymous man who hid the gold. He wants to test his security by having her try to find him. If she tracks him down, he’ll pay her a bonus of $25,000.

Both of the investigations are complex, interesting, and full of intrigue, as well as surprises. This is the sixth novel featuring Cassie Dewell, but it works well as a stand alone. I need to go back and read the others in the series.

Cassie is a wonderful character. She's a smart, strong, intuitive single mother. She's also a realistic character who is 40 something, worries about her weight, and has to wear reading glasses. Cassie works hard and is very perceptive. I loved the interaction with her family, however brief it was here. The other characters were also interesting and memorable.

Box does an excellent job plotting the novel and setting a fast pace while Cassie follows clues in both cases. The narrative is mainly told through Cassie's point-of-view, although there are some alternating viewpoints. The chapters are short and to the point, keeping things moving along quickly. The chapter titles help the reader follow the action and the timeline of events. The final denouement is perfect. I highly enjoyed this whole novel!

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, Edelweiss, and Amazon.

Cassie Dewell is a private investigator in Wyoming. She has solved a number of high profile cases which leads a wealthy Florida widow to hire her to find a con man who has bilked her of several million dollars. Actually, she is tasked with finding the original private investigator the widow had hired who has now gone missing. At the same time, a mysterious man hires her to find him - he says he wrote a poem that purports to lead someone to a pot of gold - a poem that has plenty of people searching the mountains and rivers of the state. With these two cases battling for her time, and one becoming evermore dangerous, Cassie moves between some of the old mining cities and towns of the state in search of answers. This is the 6th book in Box’s Cassie Dewell series (the first having been published in 2011) but the first that I have read. While I always like to start a series from the beginning, I did not find I had any problems having read this as a stand alone. It was an entertaining read with a likable lead character as well as some very dislikable antagonists. There is plenty of action to keep you turning the pages along with several twists and turns that will keep you guessing at the outcome. My thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This is the 6th book in the Cassie Dewell series, but the first I read, though I’m a longtime reader of the Joe Pickett series. The novel is easily read as a standalone, though it certainly made me want to go back and read the first few books in this series. As always with this author, there is an excellent sense of place, and even in the fictional context, there’s the sense of learning something about life in this part of the country. Investigator Cassie Dewell is competent and no-nonsense in the best tradition of C.J. Box characters. She conducts two simultaneous assignments—one involving tracking down a con artist who swindled a wealthy woman out of millions, and the other finding the man who claims to be the author of a poem with clues pointing to the location of a hidden treasure. While everyone else hunts for the treasure, Cassie is challenged by the alleged treasure-hider to claim a reward by finding *him.* Cassie tackles both cases effectively and with a keen sense of right and wrong. Fans will appreciate the nod to the Pickett series when one of the secondary characters turns out to be someone we know and love. The ending is satisfying on several levels, with the justice we were all rooting for being served.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur and Netgalley for a digital advance copy.

Cj box has written another page turner.The setting of Montana the well written characters abook I could not put down.I am a fan of all the authors books .#netgalley #minatorbooks.

“Private “Investigator Cassie Dewell’s business is thriving, and her latest case puts her on the hunt for a slippery con man who’s disappeared somewhere in the “treasure state”. A wealthy Florida widow has accused him of absconding with her fortune, and wants Cassie to find him and get it back. The trail takes Cassie to Anaconda, Montana, a quirky former copper mining town that’s the perfect place to reinvent yourself. As the case develops, Cassie begins to wonder if her client is telling her everything.”

First off – What’s with cover art lately? All “chick lit” seems to be in shades of teal, whereas all thrillers/murder mysteries, yellow and blue. The Best Seller shelf in my library is looking tragically homogenous.

Second – This book is just not for me; both in the did-not-enjoy and the not-the-target-audience ways.

I love a good murder mystery as much as the next bibliophile, but I found this one flat.

The plot was fine, but the characters were especially shallow. A person was either Good or Bad, with zero nuance.

Added to that, the heavy-handedness in regards to the author’s feelings about Covid protocols? Those concerned are brainless, spineless, and heartless, whereas all the skeptics were brave, hard-working, and clear-eyed. I get that Mr Box has to appeal to his base, but as stated, I am not that base.

5/10

Thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

I must have been sleeping because I totally missed the previous five books in this series. They are now on my list of must reads. Cassie is a great character, a real life woman, middle aged with a daughter and working as a PI. She isn't flashy, she isn't one to act rashly. In this book, which worked fine for me as a stand alone, she has two cases. One is a woman from Florida who needs Cassie's help tracking down the dirtbag who swindled her out of her money. The other revolves around a buried treasure and a poet. He claims to be the one who did the burying and wants her to find him. Strange, indeed. The treasure hunt has more than a few dead treasure hunters attached to it. Will there be more?
The Montana setting coupled with a very well crafted pair of puzzles to sort out gave me a very satisfying read. There were enough twists and red herrings to keep me guessing - wrong - all the way to the end.
My thanks to the publisher Minotaur and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Whether reading about game warden Joe Pickett or private investigator Cassie Dewell, C.J. Box knows how to spin a tale that makes readers keep turning the pages. Although I like Joe, I have to admit that I have a special fondness for Cassie, and watching her solve the two cases in Treasure State was a real treat.

Cassie shines in Treasure State, but so do the secondary characters: her new intern, April Pickett; her annoying mother Isabel; the young Kyle Westergaard who's determined to find the treasure no matter how hard Cassie tries to stop him; even the Lothario who roams the country stealing as much money from women as he can-- all these characters keep readers fully engaged in the story.

Both cases Cassie is investigating are gems, and I love watching her mind work as she pieces things together. She always works hard to be one step ahead of the bad guys in order to keep herself and all those she cares about safe. It's refreshing to have the main character go out of her way not to do anything stupid.

Having spent many happy hours out in the middle of nowhere (and closer afield) locating old mining towns in the mountains and deserts of Arizona and learning their fascinating histories, I soaked up everything Box had to say about Montana's mining past, in particular, the town of Anaconda, a town long considered to be the heart of the American labor movement.

Characters, mysteries, history-- Treasure State was downright fun to read, and I can't wait to see what Cassie Dewell gets up to next.

Montana private investigator Cassie Dewell is working on two cases in Treasure State, the sixth in the Highway Quartet series. [Why is it book six of a series of four (the definition of quartet)? I have no idea.]

Cassie's first case is a bit of a puzzle. A poem has been found leading allegedly to a $3.5 million treasure. The poem’s author has hired Cassie anonymously to find out his identity. Could that be why her office was ransacked?

Her second case is to find a con man. The victim’s first PI has ominously come up missing while working on the case. Can Cassie find the con man and determine if he had anything to do with the detective's death?

I have never been disappointed by this author. And I wasn’t here either. The con man case is a straightforward PI procedural. While the treasure case has some humor included. It is based on a real treasure map story from the northern US, if I remember correctly. The two stories balance each other out nicely. 4 stars for Treasure State. It is a good solid procedural mystery.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

My first CJ Box read but definitely won’t be my last! Totally enjoyed this book. Loved the setting, storyline and awesome delivery. A great cast of characters that kept me flipping pages from start to finish.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5) This was a fun quick read! Cassie is a PI who is tasked with finding a con man but also the man who started a country-wide treasure hunt.

I wasn’t sure I’d like Cassie but wow she really grew on me! She’s honest and genuine. I loved hearing each step she took in each case.

The climax came on unexpectedly and felt a bit rushed but was such a fun journey. That ending made me smile! It was perfectly wrapped up.


Thank you to Minotaur Books for the gifted copies!

The book releases September 27, 2022.

Fans of the series know that Cassie is a no-nonsense investigator who is great with complex cases- and new readers will be pleased to discover this will be fine as a standalone. She's been hired by the man who started a treasure hunt with a poem left in a restaurant to find him. That's right- he wants to know if anyone can find him, not the pot of gold. And then she's hired by a woman in Florida who was fleeced by a con man who romances older women for their money. Will these two fit together except that both men are believed to be in Montana? No spoilers from me but know that she's hired April Pickett (!) and her son Ben to help out. This shifts between POVs- mostly Cassie, a PI, and a bad guy. The writing feels a bit stilted in spots but is smooth in others. There are good twists here (I was surprised). There's also unfortunate commentary against masks and making light of COVID which, although I realize reflect the character's views, disappointed me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I loved this book!

In short Cassie Dewell, private investigator, has been hired for 2 different cases. One involves a treasure hunt and finding the man who created it, the other is chasing down a con man for a woman in Florida who believes he was last seen in Montana.

As a long time CJ Box fan this book was on point and a pure joy to read. I love Cassie, she’s a strong, smart, confident & witty woman. The way she unraveled both mysteries captivated me and kept me sucked in to see what would happen. I also loved that we got a little surprise crossover from Saddlestring.

I happen to live in Montana and Box captures the setting & local characters so well. Everything from the pride residents of Butte and Anaconda have for their town to how an employee at the Dept of Justice answers the phone. (I work in the same building as them and this made me laugh out loud!)

I also lived in Yellowstone at the height of the Forest Fenn treasure hunt. Using this treasure hunt as inspiration for the Sir Scott’s Treasure was fantastic and captured the craziness and obsession of hunters so well.

Links to reviews will be added as soon as they’re posted closer to publication date.

Cassie Dewall's day ends with her office being broken into - and then it just gets stranger... She takes on a case to find a missing PI who was helping a Florida woman find the man who scammed five million dollars from her. And her phone rings again, it's a man who says he's the writer of the poem who has everyone hunting for a golden treasure. He'll pay Cassie if she can figure out who he is. In true C. J. Box style, the author weaves these tales altogether into a fantastic read! I had not read the Cassie Dewall series - but I'm going to to back and read them all. Absolutely wonderful! Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the advanced reader of this book. The opinions are my own.

Cassie Dewell’s P.I. business is thriving. She has more work than she and her receptionist can handle so she takes on April Pickett (Joe and Mary Beth’s adopted daughter) as an intern. Currently, Cassie has two open cases.
The most immediate case involves a wealthy Florida women who was conned out of her fortune by a devious Montana man. The previous P.I. on the case was murdered near Anaconda, Montana. Cassie quickly discovers a likely suspect in the area but his charm, wit, and skills of deception temporarily misdirect her and put her in danger. The second case is more abstract. Someone has written a poem promising a buried treasure in Montana to anyone who can decipher the clues found within the poem. Cassie is hired by the poet not to find the treasure but to see if she can find and identify him. Fierce competition among the treasure hunters to find the treasure has already resulted in five deaths. The instigator poet wants to be assured he will remain anonymous.
While I prefer the Joe Pickett series to the Cassie Dewell series, I’ve grown to enjoy most anything C.J. Box writes. That same under estimated, ‘dumb like a fox’ attribute comes through in all his lead characters. That combined with the western outdoor backdrop always makes his work worth reading.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance look.

I don't know much in life but I do know people lose their minds about treasure hunts and there is a certain gravity to "Dateline mysteries." In Treasure State, C.J. Box weaves multiple storylines involving a strange poem with ties to said treasure hunt, a cat and mouse game between Cassie Dewell and the treasure burier(?), a loverboy conman and the disappearance of a P.I. who has searching for the loverboy. Each thread on their own play a crucial part in the overall vibe but the way Box interweaves the darker threads with the more lighthearted treasure hunt angle is essential. Otherwise, Treasure State might be too dark for some people.

Instead, you get a fun, quick read with fantastic characters written with the expertise Box fans are accustomed. Treasure State. while it is the sixth book featuring Cassie Dewell, can be read as a standalone but don't be surprised if you find a new series to delve into.

My sincere thanks to C.J. Box, Minotaur Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Treasure State.

The sixth in the series featuring private investigator Cassie Dewell puts her in the middle of two very different cases and pulls in a tie with the author's other popular series about Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett. The tie-in is simply this: Cassie hires April Pickett, the daughter of Joe and his wife Marybeth, as an intern at her office in Bozeman, Montana, much to the annoyance of Cassie's hippy dippy blabbermouth mother, Isabel. April isn't seen much, although she and Cassie's son, Ben, do play roles in helping to solve one of the cases.

One of the cases involves a poem left in a restaurant that alludes to an alleged $3.5 million in gold known as Sir Scott's Treasure. It's quite the mystery, both as to who sneaked in and wrote the poem and where the treasure is hidden (if, in fact, it exists at all). Cassie remains uncertain even after she receives a call from the person who claims to be the author - not only can she not tell whether it was a man or woman, the caller challenges Cassie to find not the treasure itself, but the person who hid the treasure and wrote the poem. If she does, the caller says, she'll get a reward of $25,000.

Not long thereafter, Cassie gets a call from an older woman who's been taken to the financial cleaners by a charming con artist; the previous private eye she hired has gone missing, she says, and she still needs someone to try and get her money back. Since she's still got enough money to pay Cassie's retainer, they seal the deal - and Cassie ends up in the old mining town of Anaconda. Right away, she bumps heads with local law enforcement jerks who don't like outsiders (especially female) poking their nose in their business.

But she persists, even if getting to the bottom of things takes her all over Montana - with readers getting an extensive look at the lay of the land. Her investigation also puts her back in touch with a character who should be familiar to readers of previous books and, of course, smack dab in the middle of liars, cheaters and murderers (nope, no details - read the book for yourself). I'll just end with thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with a pre-release copy to read and review. Another good one!

As a C.J. Box fan, I looked forward to reading Treasure State. It starts slowly. Cassie's investigation into a mystery con man with charm unfolds slowly. Once it gets going, it gets better, but still, it does not match up to other Box novels. I liked it well enough, and I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, but I am not likely to read it again. The connection to the bad sheriffs was hard to figure.
The scenery is great and it made me want to visit Butte, Montana!

So glad that I didn't allow the first chapter to stop me from continuing. I don't recall reading any others in this series. I was afraid that first character was the protagonist. Once I was introduced to Cassie things flowed much better for me. Many heart-wrenching moments. History once again reveals man's inhumanity to man and beast. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.