A Ceremonial Death — B.J. Oliphant

Shadow Dancer Was Readying Her Hogan For A Healing Ceremony -- and Her Own Terrible Death....

And the beautiful cosmic healer, nee Bridget McCree, had not been dead long when her neighbor Shirley McClintock found her viciously mutilated body.

Was the murder the work of extraterrestrials, as recent cattle mutilations in the Santa Fe area are believed to be? Shirley's investigation into Shadow Dancer's torrid romances and tangled family affairs suggests more traditional motivations: greed, lust, and envy.

So after a second sordid killing and sly rumors that Shirley and her family are somehow involved in both crimes, she goes on the warpath: straight toward the unexpected truth and a head-on confrontation with Shadow Dancer's murderous last client...