The Quail Runner
In the tradition of the legendary Tony Hillerman, The Quail Runner is set in Indian Country. In northern New Mexico, where journalist Dennis Kaatsay has always taken in the natural beauty as if it were oxygen made visible. A native son, from one of the centuries-old Indian pueblos that endure in the Land of Enchantment, he’s always felt sustained by the colors and light and lines—the brilliant yellow of cottonwoods in autumn, the violet sky at dawn, sunlight glinting on the surface of the Chama River, mesa tops and mountain ridges where earth and sky meet. Then three bodies are found hanging from trees and a fourth so savagely beaten the blood spatter experts can’t agree on key facts. The gruesome deaths make it hard for Dennis to look at anything as he once did. Still, he’s driven to look for answers. Even after someone leaves a very visual warning that his questions must end.