The Replacement Child »

CHRISTINE BARBER is an award-winning journalist as well as a certified emergency-medical technician and firefighter. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she is currently pursuing a career in medicine. She previously worked as an editor at The Santa Fe New Mexican and as a journalist for the Albuquerque Journal and Gallup Independent.

Late one night, Capital Tribune editor Lucy Newroe receives a tip from Scanner Lady, an anonymous reader who frequently calls with police scanner tidbits. When Lucy checks out the tip, she discovers Scanner Lady has been killed. That same night, the body of a seventh-grade teacher, Melissa Baca, is found at the bottom of a local bridge. As Lucy and police detective Gil Montoya hunt down the culprits in each murder, they discover their cases are intertwined in the most intimate ways.

Christine Barber, the first winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize, received overwhelming praise for her remarkable debut, which was named a New York Times Notable Book. Rich with details of New Mexico and the people who live there, The Replacement Child is the perfect novel for anyone who has fallen in love with the Southwest, and marks the emergence of a promising new writer.

The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio

Christine Barber is new to the Southwest in the sense that The Replacement Child is her first novel. But she has a great feel for the territory and for the family connections that enforce its strong community bonds.