The "annual" Saint Patrick's Day party hosted by Tim and Jamie Malone in their small northern New Mexico community is their first in many years. For Albuquerque attorney Neil Hamel, going to the party is a reunion of sorts with various old friends she spent a year carousing with in a small town in Mexico in the late 1960s. Just about everyone seems to have made some move from hippie to mainstream except Lonnie Darmer, who—as in the old days—gets too drunk to drive home. Neil drives them both to Lonnie's little house in Santa Fe and wakes the next morning to discover her missing. Lonnie is found dead in an Anasazi ruin in the mountains near Santa Fe, her body unscathed. The police immediately conclude Lonnie committed suicide, and her friends seem almost relieved to concur—all except Neil. As she investigates her friend's death, suspects suddenly abound. Even Neil herself comes under suspicion, as the real killer draws ever closer, eager to satisfy a newfound appetite for killing.
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
March 11, 2013 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780792794844
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780792794844
- File size: 1989 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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January 1, 1991
Hard-bitten lawyer Neil Hamel puts in her third appearance (after Raptor ) in this grim but satisfying mystery. When Lonnie Darmer, Neil's friend from the freewheeling 1970s, is found dead in one of the Indian caves near Santa Fe, N.M., the local police dismiss the event as a suicide. Lonnie had been depressed, drinking heavily and, presumably, taking drugs. But Neil is not convinced. She knows that Lonnie, who was opposed to the construction of a huge, monstrously ugly office building in downtown Santa Fe, had evidence that the head of the Historic Preservation Board had been bribed. Neil's confrontational manner ignites sparks with whomever she interviews: Michael Railback, the complacent yet malicious police detective; Ci, a wealthy psychic who speaks her own convoluted psychobabble; and Rick, Lonnie's pompous former husband, whose firm is building the controversial structure. But it is Neil's own uninhibited lifestyle that enables her to collect vital information from some barely marginal members of society. The rich atmosphere of North New Mexico and some off-beat and intriguing characters combine to give this book a sharp and appealing edge.
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