(Isstories Editorial):- Albuquerque, New Mexico May 15, 2025 (Issuewire.com) – Let’s not kid ourselves–political fiction rarely cuts deep anymore. But every once in a while, a book doesn’t just flirt with political satire or social commentary–it takes it out for drinks, interrogates it under a hot lamp, and leaves readers breathless. Rosalie Rayburn’s Windswept, the third novel in her critically acclaimed Digger Doyle Mystery series, is exactly that kind of novel.
Part political intrigue, part murder mystery, and wholly a reflection of our time, Windswept introduces stakes that go far beyond a dead body–and trust me, there is one. At the foot of a wind turbine, no less.
Get your copy of Windswept today–available in paperback and eBook.
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Rayburn, a former investigative journalist herself, writes with the kind of eye only decades in newsrooms and bureaucratic boardrooms can hone. The protagonist, Elizabeth “Digger” Doyle, is a former reporter turned reluctant political spouse, who gets pulled–no, dragged–into a web of danger involving her wife, Maria, a newly elected state legislator, and a charismatic politician named Carmen Lawlor who ends up very dead.
Is it an accident? A suicide? A warning?
Rayburn doesn’t offer easy answers–she crafts layered ones. Much like New Mexico’s treacherous winds, the story teases, howls, and shifts directions without warning. The reader is left gripping the page as Digger navigates corrupt developers, climate controversies, oil and gas backroom deals, and yes, the kind of female rivalry that runs deeper than campaign lines and lipstick shades.
What’s refreshing here is that Rayburn refuses to sanitize women. Her characters are flawed, bold, and at times politically dangerous. Digger’s wife, Maria, is caught between loyalty to her mentor and the magnetic pull of ambition. Carmen Lawlor, the deceased, was a progressive climate champion with powerful enemies and a suspicious past–including a buried cold case and a sister with secrets of her own.
If this feels too real, that’s because it is. Rayburn’s understanding of New Mexico politics–land leases, lobbyist pressure, and local newsrooms gasping for resources–mirrors a national tension few authors dare to touch.
And then there’s the writing.
Wit meets grit on every page. Rayburn’s dialogue is sharp, and her sense of place is immersive without being indulgent. One moment you’re inside a queer bar lit by crepe-paper flowers, the next you’re on the scorching plains staring up at a turbine that hums like a ticking bomb. Digger’s internal monologue, laced with dry humor and fatigue, could belong to any burned-out journalist or principled Gen-Xer trying to hold the line in a world slipping sideways.
Uncover the truth behind the turbine–purchase Windswept wherever books are sold. Order now.
But Windswept isn’t just clever crime fiction. It’s an LGBTQ+ political thriller that doesn’t pander. The romantic relationship between Digger and Maria is intimate, messy, and, above all, real. This isn’t a token nod toward inclusion–it’s a front-row seat to the very real sacrifices queer women in public life make just to stay standing.
And the mystery? It works. It genuinely works.
Rayburn doesn’t rely on plot twists for shock value. Instead, she builds a slow crescendo of dread. Clues–many hidden in character mannerisms, offhand remarks, or old newspaper clippings–pile up until they tip over. The murder investigation, paired with Digger’s journalistic instincts, creates a story that’s as much about uncovering corruption as it is about personal betrayal.
By the time the sheriff arrives, and we start asking the big questions–who benefits from Carmen’s death, what was she hiding, and why now–the story has already done something rare: it’s made you care.
Read the book that readers are calling ‘timely, tense, and unforgettable. Buy Windswept today.
It would be easy to dismiss Windswept as a regional mystery, a desert noir. But that would miss the national implications. In an era where women journalists are under attack, LGBTQ+ politicians are targeted, and climate change becomes a political powder keg, this book lands like a thunderclap.
Windswept isn’t just a mystery. It’s a mirror. And Rosalie Rayburn holds it steady. The message? Silence is no longer an option. Whether you’re a reporter, a voter, or a reader.
About the Author
Rosalie Rayburn is a former journalist who spent decades reporting across the globe–from Ireland to New Mexico. Since retiring, she’s walked the Camino de Santiago and now splits her time between Portugal and the Southwest. Windswept is her third novel in the Digger Doyle Mystery series, following The Power of Rain and The Sunshine Solution.
This article was originally published by IssueWire. Read the original article here.
