New Mexico is a spectacular setting for mysteries, and Carol Potenza puts its majestic landscape to unexpected and thrilling use. – David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of First Blood.The real hero of the story in many ways is the landscape and how the people who live on it interact with it. This is the first book in a planned series. Although it is only a small part of the story, I was actually more engrossed in that relationship than I was in Nicky's love story with a fellow officer who may or may not be what he seems. There is a fascinating subplot with an evil ex-boyfriend who is also a powerful social influencer.

Potenza is a practicing biochemist and it is in this part of the mystery where her writing really shines. The mystery revolves around scientific research, organ donors (the Fire Sky People have to be buried intact, so they aren't donors), and DNA. It then made me wonder if the customs and rituals I had just enjoyed learning so much about were also fictional, but from online interviews with Potenza I gather that those are based on research (Potenza's sister in law is a police officer in a New Mexico Pueblo).

Tribal customs, rituals, and cultural beliefs play a big part in this novel, so I was a little disappointed when I found out the tribe was fictional. Nicky Matthews is a white, female, police sergeant whose job is to police the local Fire Sky pueblo (Fire Sky is a fictitious tribe), with customs based on those of the Apache.

Carol potenza