Plant Them Deep

A stand-alone spin-off from the Ella Clah series, Plant Them Deep features Ella’s mother, Rose Destea, in a mystery only a traditionalist Navajo could solve!

Medicine men and members of the Plant Watchers society report that sacred healing plants are disappearing from the Rez. In an effort to locate and protect the rare plants, the tribal council asks Rose for help. She faces strong opposition both from healers reluctant to reveal their secret herb-gathering spots and from people who think the Rez should be cultivated with genetically-engineered plants instead of native species.
Rose is shocked to discover that many plants appear to have been stolen, perhaps for the lucrative market for alternative and natural medications. Soon after her notes and maps are stolen, a Navajo man is found dead near a gathering site. Rose is convinced that he was murdered by the plant thief.

Rose has picked up a trick or two from Ella Clah, her police officer daughter; she begins an independent investigation that soon has her up to her neck in trouble.

Aimée and David Thurlo have won the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award for their romantic suspense, the Willa Cather Award for Contemporary Fiction, and the New Mexico Book Award. They are coauthors of the Special Investigator Ella Clah series, the Lee Nez series of Navajo vampire thrillers, and the southwestern Sister Agatha cozy mysteries. Aimée, a native of Cuba, lived in the US for many years. She died in 2014. David was raised on the Navajo Reservation and taught school there until his retirement. He lives in Corrales, New Mexico, and often makes appearances at area bookstores.