Turquoise Girl (Ella Clah Series #12) » (Reprint)

Aimée Thurlo, a native of Cuba, has lived in the US for many years. David Thurlo was raised on the Navajo Reservation and later taught school there. Together, the Thurlos are the authors of the Ella Clah series, the Sister Agatha series, and the Lee Nez series. Aimée and David Thurlo live in Corrales, New Mexico.

Valerie Tso has been murdered, apparently during a break-in, and Navajo Police Special Investigator Ella Clah is determined to find the killer—and fast. Valerie is the estranged mother of Boots, who takes care of Ella’s daughter after school. Ella owes Boots a quick resolution to the case.

Unfortunately, things aren’t as simple as they seem. A Bible verse on a scrap of paper left near the body reminds Ella of a string of murders of Navajo women she worked on in her FBI days. The killer was never found. Now he seems to be killing again, targeting the children of the women he murdered ten years ago.

Ella discovers that the earlier victims—and Valerie—had been lovers of Caleb Frank, a successful Navajo businessman. Once a member of Ella’s father’s congregation, Frank had believed that sinners had to be punished.

Could Boots—born out of wedlock—be Caleb Frank’s next target? Ella is an unmarried mother—is her own daughter in danger?

Publishers Weekly

In the action-packed 13th adventure (after 2006's Mourning Dove) of Special Investigator Ella Clah of the Navajo Tribal Police, an anonymous tip alerts her team to the murder of waitress Valerie Tso, whose body the killer arranged in a kneeling position "as if in prayer." Ella soon recalls similarities to a crime she investigated years earlier during her time off rez in Los Angeles-one of several connections she makes between current and long-ago crimes. Valerie's mother, Lena, is a close friend of Ella's mom, but Lena's desire for swift vengeance puts the families at odds. As more deaths occur, Ella seeks to apprehend the killer before the Fierce Ones, the vigilante group Lena has called on, extract their own version of justice. The symbolism at several murder scenes points Ella to the church where her father, murdered 10 years earlier, once preached, and also to the congregation shepherded by her romantic interest, Rev. Bilford Tome. The Thurlos enrich the mystery plot with detailed reference to Navajo beliefs in tension with modern Christianity. (Apr.)