Coronado's Trail

In 1540, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led an expeditionary force from Mexico into what is now the American Southwest. His journey provides the backdrop for this contemporary mystery novel. Deputy Sheriff Calvin Creede mostly works alone in one corner of Arizona's smallest county. His job has been a simple one until the day a flash flood exposes the rusted remains of an old pickup. A body in the truck turns out to be the long-lost son of a prominent ranching family, and forensic evidence shows it was murder. Deputy Creede faces a twenty-year-old cold case with too many suspects, from an ex-girlfriend and jealous family members, to drug lords and looters of archeological sites. The story unfolds amidst two issues affecting modern day southeastern Arizona: the loss of native rangeland to exurban development, and tensions along the international border. Resolution of the case leaves both of these problems in place, but sheds fictional yet plausible light on a southwestern mystery that has been around for nearly five centuries.