"This series is developing nicely - and I’m along for the ride as a forensic botanist helps solve murder in the Arizona borderlands. Loved this western mystery. Really liked this female sleuth. Can’t wait for the next one!" - Marcy Birdweather, Marcy’s Musings
An open-pit mine has blighted a small mountain range in the desert grasslands of southeastern Arizona. Deputy Sheriff Calvin Creede hates what the mine has done to his favorite view, but he has been told to avoid the controversy and stick to law enforcement. All that changes when two individuals associated with the mine are found murdered. In their relentless pursuit of the killer or killers, Creede and his colleagues discover high-level corruption and unearth a dark secret kept hidden for nearly a half-century. In this, their fifth Arizona mystery novel, the authors once again set their story amid the social and environmental issues impacting natural areas in American Southwest and the people living there.