Part of Leaphorn & Chee, book 22
First published 2018
Tribal Police Officer Bernadette Manuelito arrives at a wilderness program for troubled teens expecting routine community outreach. Instead she finds chaos. Annie, a participant who vanished during a solo trek, has returned hours late and deeply shaken. The girl discovered human remains in the lava caves. While everyone celebrates Annie's safe return, a beloved instructor who searched for her in the volcanic landscape of El Malpais has disappeared. Bernie must solve both mysteries as complications mount. An unexpected blizzard strikes. A suspicious drowning occurs. A new FBI agent arrives and disrupts her investigation. The instructor's vanishing echoes an old case involving the legendary Joe Leaphorn. Meanwhile, Bernie's husband Sergeant Jim Chee faces his own crisis when a violent man he once imprisoned returns and begins dating Bernie's sister Darleen. The relationship forces Chee to balance his roles as husband, officer, and former medicine man trainee. Bernie searches for truth among the lava tubes that Navajo tradition says formed from the blood of an ancient monster.
Genres: adventure, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, small-town
Setting: El Malpais, Lava Caves, Navajo
310 pages · Hardcover · Harper