TREASURE AMONG THE SHADOWS, Marie Romero Cash

This is a nice little mystery for a summer read.  It seems highly improbable but, in a case of the truth is stranger than fiction, there really is a buried treasure out there waiting for someone to follow the clues and find it.  A friend of the author's, a restaurant owner wrote a memoir called The Thrill of the Chase in which there are subtle clues to a million dollar treasure he would hide.  His name is Forrest Fenn.

Hence this Jemimah Hodge mystery, the plot of which centers around a buried treasure and clues in a book written by one of the men who hid it.  This spurs all kinds of interest by countless people, some of whom actually go out searching for the treasure but in all the wrong places. 

Greed, of course, leads to murder.  Jem Hodge is a forensic psychologist and her new boyfriend is Sheriff's Deputy Rick Romero.  Both are very likable, smart detectives but they have two murders to solve and both have them stumped.  One of the victims is a homeless prostitute, but the other lives in a higher station in life.  It's this second victim that gives me pause.  I found that character's life and death a little beyond my powers of belief.

Regardless, I thought what the heck, it's summer and this is a fun premise, so I'll just go along with the flow.  Sometimes I think I'm looking for too much veracity in a simple novel.  Once I stopped nit-picking, I enjoyed the book.  There is a lot of description of western scenery and a little about Indian ruins that piqued my interest.  I'm always looking for someone to fill the enormous shoes of Tony Hillerman.  This isn't it; I don't think anyone can replace Hillerman, but still this is set in New Mexico and there are Indian artifacts involved.

Recommended
Source:  Partners in Crime Book Tour