Booked and Printed
By Robert C. Hahn

New Mexico is home to a growing cadre of fine mystery writers who share a love of green chili and a respect for the diversity of climates, geography, and cultures that constitute the fabric of life there. Tony Hillerman's mysteries featuring Navajo tribal policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee garner fans because of their cross-cultural insights, the depth of the characters, and the evocation of a landscape that is not only visually beautiful, but crucial to understanding the stories and the people in them. New regional voices are making strong inroads into Mr. Hillerman's territory-and Mr. Hillerman has been generous in his praise.

Michael McGarrity of Santa Fe is carving out his own niche with a multicultural cast of law enforcement officers who handle every kind of crime and criminal: rural, tribal or big city. Death Song (Dutton, $24.95) is his latest and although Santa Fe Police Chief Kevin Kerney gets top billing, this is definitely an ensemble series with many strong characters getting their chance to shine.

Death Song begins with a double bang-two murders that take place in two different jurisdictions: the killing of deputy sheriff Tim Riley in Lincoln County and the slaying of his wife, Denise, in Santa Fe. On top of that, the couple's eighteen-year-old son is missing. McGarrity handles the myriad jurisdictional forces and the potential for personal and personnel disputes in a way that reveals his own real life experience as a deputy sheriff in Santa Fe. From autopsies to computer technology to combined task forces, McGarrity lays it out clearly and convincingly. The result is a murder mystery that deepens as more and more information is revealed about the murdered couple, the deputy's estranged and missing son, and the additional victims the investigation encounters.

At the same time the personal stories of Police Chief Kevin Kerney and his associates also deepen. Kerney's wife Sara is a decorated veteran of the Iraq war still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Mescalero Apache Sergeant Clayton Istee of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office is still coming to terms with the discovery that Kerney is his biological father, and prodded by Sara and Istee's wife Grace, the two law officers are becoming better acquainted socially as circumstances bring them together professionally.

McGarrity has the whole package: a credible mystery, compelling characters, and a sense of place that encompasses the entire range of wilderness, rural, and urban areas of New Mexico.

Sandi Ault's memorable debut mystery Wild Indigo (2007) introduced Jamaica Wild, her wolf pup, Mountain, and other important characters who have returned in Ault's sophomore effort, Wild Inferno (Berkley Prime Crime, $23.95).

Wild, a resource protection agent for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Taos is a bit of a maverick: impetuous, headstrong, and fiercely passionate. In her debut appearance, Wild began learning about the lore and customs of the (fictional) Tanoah Pueblo Indians from Momma Anna, who senses great potential in Wild.

In Wild Inferno, Wild's education continues but this time she confronts not only a human killer but also nature's deadly force in the form of powerful wildfires. Wild travels to the Southern Ute territory near the famed Chimney Rock, where she has been called in to serve as the BLM's liaison officer for the team managing the fire fight.

Wild is immersed in the logistics of firefighting from the beginning, when she stumbles upon a seriously injured firefighter who can only murmur mysteriously, "save the grandmother," before he collapses. But another part of her job is dealing with the assemblage of Native Americans from thirteen tribes who have gathered at Chimney Rock for a sacred ceremony linked to a lunar event that occurs only once every 18.6 years.

Ault's description of the intense and intricate choreography involved in fighting wild fires comes as a revelation to any reader unfamiliar with them. Their vastness and unpredictability, not to mention the labor of donning an incredible load of protective gear and tools and trying to control the spread of the fires at ground level, require an incredible degree of bravery, caution, and dedication.

Ault's second mystery is even better than her first and at the end of it, Jamaica Wild is poised to enter a new phase of her career, which should leave readers eagerly awaiting the next chapter in this captivating series.

Pari Noskin Taichert's first two Sasha Solomon mysteries, The Clovis Incident (2004) and The Belen Hitch (2005), were both nominated for Agatha awards. Her third, The Socorro Blast (University of New Mexico Press, $24.95), may well generate a win as well as a nomination.

While McGarrity focuses his series on law enforcement officials and Ault's BLM agent focuses on the Native American populace of New Mexico, Taichert deals with another state minority: Jews.

Sasha Solomon is a forty-one-year-old public relations expert anticipating a trip to Socorro to commence a consulting job for Socorro County. An added benefit is that she'll get to spend some time with her favorite niece, Gabi Shofet, a grad student at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.

But even before Sasha gets to Socorro, she learns that Gabi has been injured in an accident. The accident turns out to be an explosion, a pipe bomb rigged to detonate when Gabi opened her mailbox. Viewed as a prank, the mailbox explosion would be serious enough, but when Sasha discovers that Gabi's home has been vandalized with graffiti that plays on her Iranian heritage, she's ready to consider both events as a hate crime.

There is plenty of Jewish angst in this family where some members are strict Orthodox and others non-observant and the conflicts constant and exacerbated when they gather from their distant homes. The arrival of Gabi's super-observant sister, Daville, and her mother, Eva, ratchets up the family tensions. Taichert manages to leaven these disputes with humor, but the family divide is wide.

Sasha is not content with the police investigation, and as she did in previous adventures, she decides to do some sleuthing on her own. In addition, she is still trying to keep up with the demands of her consulting job, which is to help pull together the disparate tourist attractions of Socorro County under an umbrella marketing plan for a new visitor's center.

Readers will discover plenty about the range of Socorro County's attractions, including an old army outpost, Native American sites, and its Spanish heritage, while learning still more about Sasha's grit and sleuthing abilities and how her public relations skills lend themselves to an investigation.