The Widow's Revenge and Buried Strangers

January 03, 2011

Mystery Book Discussion

In January, we are reading:

The Widow’s Revenge by James D. Doss.  Even with some of the toughest hombres and nastiest outlaws roaming the Southwest, seven-foot-tall rancher and sometimes tribal investigator Charlie Moon does a fair job on the side of the good guys.  So, it is no surprise that he gets the call when the widow, Loyola Montoya, starts making a fuss about witches.  She swears there is a whole midnight brood lurking in the woods just off of her property, mocking her with lewd songs and harassing her with the carcasses of dead animals.  When no one takes her seriously – she has been known to cry wolf from time to time – she takes matters into her own hands, with disastrous results.  By the time Charlie arrives, it is too late to save her, and while he knows that he can’t bring her back, that doesn’t mean that he can’t help the widow get her revenge after all.  Fans of Tony Hillerman and Sandi Ault should relish this mystery of the Utes. 
 

Buried Strangers by Leighton Gage.  A playful dog unearths a human bone in a field outside of the city of Sao Paulo.  Mario Silva, Chief Inspector of Criminal Matters of the Federal Police of Brazil, based in Brasilia, the capital, and his team of investigators, Hector Costa and Arnaldo Nunez, are called in.  The local police may not be as interested in solving crimes as they are.  They soon discover a clandestine cemetery.  And then another.  Someone has recently and secretly disposed of the bodies of hundreds of human beings whose identities are unknown.  But the report of the Medical Examiner reveals that the corpses were often interred in family groups.  It turns out that many customers of a local travel agency have never reached their North American destinations.  The motive for these mass murders is completely contemporary and completing appalling.

Antioch Branch, January 24 at 7:00.  Mystery - Who done it?  Historical, International, Police Procedural . . .  What is your preference?  Come join us for lively discussions.  Refreshments served.

James H.
Antioch Branch