Part of Leaphorn & Chee, book 24
First published 2021
Officer Bernadette Manuelito starts her day serving warrants and clearing cattle from roads on the Navajo Nation. Then Maya's brother calls asking Bernie to locate his missing sister. Bernie and Maya once shared a dorm room, but Maya's addiction problems ended their friendship years ago. Bernie discovers that Maya has confessed to murdering her estranged husband, a well-known astronomer. The confession troubles Bernie because the facts don't match up. She digs deeper into the astronomer's research and follows leads to an isolated area of the reservation where a cunning murderer waits. Bernie's investigation creates tension with her husband Jim Chee, who now serves as her acting supervisor and fears she's walking into danger. Chee struggles with leadership duties he never wanted while trying to figure out his own future. Their veteran mentor Joe Leaphorn wrestles with his own questions about moving forward. Bernie must untangle the lies surrounding the astronomer's death while navigating the complicated dynamics with Chee and reconnecting with her troubled past.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Navajo Nation, Reservation
Period: Contemporary
318 pages · Hardcover · Harper
Content warnings: addiction, mental-illness