The Bone Fire

May 17, 2010
The discovery of a small skull in the embers of the ceremonial blaze opening Fiesta de Santa Fe, in New Mexico, plunges newspaper editor and volunteer EMT Lucy Newroe into a disturbing mystery—and an even deeper funk—in Barber's haunting whodunit, the sequel to her 2008 debut, The Replacement Child. Before authorities can even confirm whether the remains belong to toddler Brianna Rodriguez, who vanished during a family barbecue the previous year, grisly displays start sprouting at shrines across the city. About all that Lucy knows is that the culprit can't be the schizophrenic neighbor quickly taken into custody. The hunt for answers takes the sympathetic journalist, whose escalating drinking can't dull her guilt over a woman killed during her previous case, and her sometime antagonist, Det. Sgt. Gilbert Montoya, through a vividly evoked Santa Fe off the tourist trail and, finally, to the surprising and terrible truth.

May 1, 2010
The Fiesta de Santa Fe fiasco.

The Zozobra bonfire, the annual New Mexico celebration during which a gargantuan puppet is ignited, leaves something gruesomely unexpected in the ashes: a baby's skull. Detective Sergeant Gilbert Montoya of the Santa Fe police (The Replacement Child, 2008) fears that it may belong to two-year-old Brianna Rodriguez, who disappeared from a family barbecue a year ago. But the worst is yet to come. Baby teeth and toes and assorted little bones begin cropping up at church sites. If they all don't belong to Brianna, a serial pedophile is at work demanding his 15 minutes of fame. At the same time, the Hacienda Linda apartment complex is the scene of suspicious carjackings ending in arson. Is there a connection? Montoya repeats his interviews with all of Brianna's relatives who were present at that fateful barbecue, while newspaper reporter Lucy Newroe pauses long enough between drinks to work a few angles on her own. What emerges is a family lying about their behavior and lusts and an artist whose self-promotion ideas are garishly wacky.

Full marks to Barber for providing the mesmerizing Southwest landscape and mindset and tackling the aftermath of incest. In the end, however, the rationale for all those bone displays is too fanciful to ring true.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 1, 2010
On the eve of the Fiesta de Santa Fe in New Mexico, people gather to watch the burning of a huge puppet called Zozobra. The 300-year-old custom represents a new beginning, as the problems of the past year vanish in the flames. This year the event becomes a crime scene when a childs skull is discovered in the ashes. Detective Sergeant Gilbert Montoya works with Lucy Newroe, a newspaper editor and volunteer EMT, to find the identity of the victim. The case takes them to every level of Santa Fe society, from gangbangers to judges, none of whom are happy when the investigators come calling, attempting to tie the skull to a cold missing-person case. Readers will enjoy the Santa Fe atmosphere and the local lore along with an intriguing plot.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)