The Shaman's Bones: (Shaman Mysteries (Hardcover))

As Chief of Police for Granite Creek, Colorado, Scott Parris has learned that the solutions to heinous human crimes sometimes lie outside the realm of cold, rational science. In the past, this knowledge has compelled him to join forces with Charlie Moon, a Ute tribal policeman who understands both the modern world and the mystical. And now Parris's instincts tell him to heed the grim predictions of Charlie's shaman aunt - the irascible and disturbingly prescient Daisy Perika - who speaks of visions of raining blood and death. "Some will die, " she tells the matukach lawman. "Some who are of the People, and some who are not. They will not die easy." The first to die badly is a woman of the Tohono O'otam tribe, whose body hangs cold and lifeless from a Wyoming tree. It is a savage and senseless crime outside Scott Parris's jurisdiction - until a brutal, unwarranted assault on a Granite Creek policewoman by the suspected killer pulls Parris and Moon into the hunt. A little girl may hold the key to this inexplicable rash of violence - an abandoned child who has been placed in the care of Daisy Perika. And despite Charlie Moon's calm assurances to the contrary, Scott Parris fears they have all found their way into Death's exclusive domain. For evil is at work in weak hearts, and innocence is now in dire jeopardy. Daisy Perika's warning rings in Parris's ears: many more will surely die, unless two dedicated police officers can uncover the dark secrets buried in a not-too-distant past - secrets of betrayal, of treacherous tribal politics, and of a stolen Power that has made some men greedy and hungry...and deadly.

About the Author :
James D. Doss, recently retired from the technical staff of Los Alamos National Laboratory, now spends most of his time in a small cabin above Taos -- writing mystery fiction. He also travels to the fascinating locations where his stories take place, often camping in remote areas to absorb the impression of an Anasazi ruin, a deep canyon, an arid mesa, or a Sun Dance. His Shaman series includes The Shaman Sings, The Shaman Laughs, The Shaman's Bones, The Shaman's Game, The Night Visitor, and Grandmother Spider. The unusual plots are a mix of high technology and mysticism (Shaman Sings), bizarre animal mutilations (Shaman Laughs), theft of a sacred artifact (Shaman's Bones), an unprecedented form of murder and revenge at the Sun Dance (Shaman's Game), a most peculiar haunting followed by the discovery of an astonishing fossil (Night Visitor), and -- because a small girl has killed a spider without performing the prescribed ritual -- the appearance of a monstrous, murderous, eight-legged creature on the reservation (Grandmother Spider, of course!).