Officer Bernadette Manuelito found the dead man slumped over the cab of a blue pickup abandoned in a dry gulch off a dirt road with a rich ex-con's phone number in his pocket... and a tobacco tin nearby filled with tracer gold. It's her initial mishandling of the scene that spells trouble for her supervisor, Sgt. Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police - but its the echoes of a long ago crime that call the legendary former Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn out of retirement. Years earlier, Leaphorn followed the trail of a beautiful , young and missing wife to a dead end, and his failure has haunted him ever since. But ghosts never sleep in these high, lonely south western hills and the twisted threads of craven murders past and current may finally be coming together, thanks to secrets once moaned in torment on the desert wind.

Another enjoyable tale from Mr Hillerman and a chance to learn more about Native Americans.

Left on a bench.

If you've found this book and you're new to this, welcome to bookcrossing! I hope you enjoy looking around the bookcrossing site. If you decide to join bookcrossing (it's free, so no reason not to if you're interested!) please feel free to list me (Tanamo) as the member who referred you. Even if you don't join I'd appreciate it if you'd leave a quick journal note so I can see where the book ended up - you can do it anonymously if you wish.