Yellow Lies: A Ben Pecos Mystery (Ben Pecos Mysteries)

Ben Pecos, the half-Indian, half-Anglo hero of Susan Slater's first mystery, The Pumpkin Seed Massacre, returns to the Pueblo country of his youth as a reservation psychologist for the Hawikuh tribe. He gets caught up in the supernatural hallucinations of Salvatore Zumi, a master fetish carver whose guilty secret (how to make amber that's almost impossible to tell from the real thing) weighs heavily enough on his conscience to drive him crazy. But not crazy enough to share his formula with Hannah, his enigmatic lover and landlady, whose partnership with Sal has supported her retarded son, the oddly named .22, for years. When the murder of an Arab trader who marketed the amber for Hannah is blamed on Sal, Ben sets out to investigate. Although he senses that Sal is not being completely honest with him, he believes in the carver's innocence and in the strength of Sal's visions and spirit visitations.

Slater's characterization of Hannah makes it easy for the reader to believe that she's involved in more than the sale of illicit amber and that Sal's hallucinations have a decidedly earthly dimension. But the creakiness of the plot is more than offset by the author's rich evocation of Native American culture, rituals, and religious beliefs. Ben Pecos is a thoughtful man who seems to have internalized the best of both his worlds, and the romance with a television reporter that blossomed in his first outing takes a firm step forward in Yellow Lies. Well grounded in the history and archaeology of the American Southwest, this is a welcome addition to the genre popularized by writers like Tony Hillerman and a fine step forward in what promises to be a popular series. --Jane Adams