Yellow Lies — Susan Slater

MISFORTUNE IN AMBER

Returning to his native New Mexico, Indian Health Services psychologist Ben Pecos finds himself entangled in the murder of a trader in traditional native fetishes.

The accused is Salvador Zuni, a master carver who is involved in a lucrative scam making fake amber, complete with trapped insects, that he sells as prehistoric artifacts. Now, someone is after his formula -- and is willing to kill for it.

Zuni's calculating lover, Hannah, owner of the boardinghouse where Ben is staying, is secretly scheming to get her hands on the formula. Intrigued by Hannah and her learning-impaired son, Ben does some digging, hoping to prove the carver's innocence. Instead, he unravels a conspiracy of greed, duplicity and murder -- and the human capacity for evil that has now taken a very personal turn...