When the Devil Doesn't Show

February 25, 2013
Christmas in festive, farolito-filled Santa Fe, N.Mex., provides the backdrop for Hillerman Prize–winner Barber’s solid third mystery featuring newspaper editor and volunteer EMT Lucy Newroe (after 2010’s The Bone Fire). While battling a blaze on the outskirts of the city, Lucy is among the firefighters who make a grisly discovery—the bodies of three murdered and brutalized men inside the fire damaged house. Within days there’s a second violent home invasion and then a third, and Det. Sgt. Gil Montoya and partner Joe Phillips find themselves under the gun to capture what appear to be a crew of stone-cold spree killers before they can strike again. As usual, Barber weaves numerous plot elements and multicultural strands of Santa Fe society into an intriguingly complex tapestry. But this time she spreads her attention among so many characters—shortchanging, among others, two who will figure most prominently in the surprising denouement—that her story doesn’t satisfy as much as it should.

February 15, 2013
The victims have two things in common: proximity to a movie set and a biotech lab at Los Alamos. It doesn't get much grislier than this: One corpse has the severed penis of the other in his mouth, and both have knife wounds, bullets in the brain and abundant signs that they've been brutalized while duct-taped to chairs. The third victim met a slightly different fate. He was dangled from a ceiling plant hanger, then doused with gasoline to start the house fire that brought rescue squads, EMT volunteer Lucy Newroe and, finally, Santa Fe police detective Gil Montoya to the scene. The seated bodies belong to Drs. Price and Jacobson, a gay couple with ties to the film industry and the Primary Structural Biosystems department at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Genetics mark the dangler as a descendant of the Crypto-Jews who fled Spain for New Mexico centuries ago, pretending to be of the Catholic faith. A second arson sends another Los Alamos scientist to the hospital, while yet another home invasion sends a retired lab employee's husband to the surgery ward. Fortuitous snooping by the newly sober Lucy, dogged police work by Gil and his assistants Kristen and Joe, and determined plotting by the author reveal a gang of four perps whose number quickly diminishes to one when its leader decides that he doesn't need his pals anymore. The weather turns bleaker; snowdrifts impede the final chase scene; and it's not until the spring thaw that one last body is found, although it doesn't belong to the guy Montoya was hounding. Another case for Montoya (The Bone Fire, 2010, etc.) that's rife with historical tidbits, garish deaths, back stories of the police staff and a love for Santa Fe. If only the author would concentrate a little more on sensible plotting.

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April 1, 2013

The Christmas season in Santa Fe turns grim when a string of incidents point to a serial killer on the loose. Initially, Det. Gil Montoya can't connect a seemingly random series of murders. It starts with a house fire and three victims. Then a similar homicide happens at another house. The possible motive list is huge, ranging from hate crimes (two victims are gay) to work-related issues (Los Alamos National Laboratory is a common employer) to a much-feared prison gang with ties to Montoya's family. When Montoya and his team learn of an escaped prisoner from Texas who's come to Santa Fe to settle his scores, they can narrow their hunt, but time is running out. VERDICT Barber hits a confident, fast-paced stride with her third series entry (after The Replacement Child). A past winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize, she is especially good at incorporating the human side into the police procedural. Pair this title with Craig Johnson and Steven Havill for its ensemble cast and style. [See Prepub Alert, 11/4/12.]

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2013
At Santa Fe's Los Posadas, the city's annual celebration of the Nativity story, the local man who usually appears in the role of the devil is unaccountably absent. Later he is found brutally murdered, along with his partner, who worked in one of the labs in the Los Alamos complex, and an unidentified man, apparently burned alive in a nearby bedroom. It's up to Sante Fe police detective Gil Montoya and his partner, Joe Phillips, to figure out what happened. Unfortunately, before they have a chance to investigate fully, more bodies, similarly executed, turn up. Joe Phillips' humor provides a good counterpoint to Gil's serious demeanor as chief detective, while information important to the investigation is provided by journalist Lucy Newsome. Lucy's personal story, first introduced in The Replacement Child (2008), runs parallel to Gil's investigation, adding a bit to the mystery's central concern while greatly strengthening the journalist's character. Once again, Barber takes full advantage of the natural beauty of New Mexico and the multiethnic character of Santa Fe, integrating both beautifully into her story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)