Mesa Verde Victim
"Graham educates while he entertains, writing with contagious enthusiasm...Evocative prose conjures vivid images of the tale's breathtaking backdrop."
--MYSTERY SCENE MAGAZINE
In a fast-paced tale of deadly intrigue, archaeologist Chuck Bender and his brother-in-law, Clarence Ortega, are falsely accused of murder when Chuck's files are ransacked and the bullet-riddled body of a longtime archaeologist friend, Barney Keller, is found in Chuck's back alley. In a quest to clear their names, Chuck and Clarence team with Chuck's paramedic wife, Janelle Ortega, and their young daughters, tracking the unknown killer first to the hidden reinterment site of a legendary North American mummy north of the mountain town of Durango, Colorado, then to the site of a secretive archaeological dig in rugged Gunnel Canyon on the edge of Mesa Verde National Park. There, they learn of the rumored existence of spiritually significant burial vessels, known as canopic jars, reputedly made by the Ancestral Puebloan people who thrived in the cliff-walled canyons of Mesa Verde a thousand years ago. If the canopic jars exist, the vessels would radically alter the contemporary understanding of Ancestral Puebloan culture, making them invaluable--and perhaps worth killing over.
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--AUSMA ZEHANAT KHAN, author of A Deadly Divide: A Khattak-Getty Mystery "In Mesa Verde Victim, long-buried secrets are unearthed in a timeless and riveting tale of greed and plundered history set amid the majesty of one of the Southwest's most beautiful national parks."
--ROGER JOHNS, award-winning author of River of Secrets: A Wallace Hartman Mystery "A stunning national park, enchanting local lore, and fascinating archaeology--it's all there in Mesa Verde Victim. Scott Graham's latest standout thriller is as full of twists and turns as a mountain road."
--C. C. HARRISON, Colorado Book Award-winning author of Death by G-String: A Coyote Canyon Mystery Praise for Arches Enemy "Poignant and compelling. Descriptions of the landscape make the desert come alive...Graham also captures the small moments in family life."
--REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE "Fascinating."
--MYSTERY SCENE MAGAZINE "Those interested in national parks and the environmental threats to them will be rewarded."
--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Fans of Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series and readers of environmental mysteries may appreciate this lush tale."
--LIBRARY JOURNAL "A winning blend of archaeology and intrigue, Graham's series turns our national parks into places of equal parts beauty, mystery, and danger."
--EMILY LITTLEJOHN, author of Lost Lake "Only a truly gifted novelist is able to keep a reader turning pages while imparting extensive knowledge about the people, the landscape, and the park system. Scott Graham proves yet again that he is one of the finest."
--CHRISTINE CARBO, author of A Sharp Solitude
