Susan McDuffie

Miss Marple meets Tony Hillerman in Death on the Rio Chiquito New Mexico, 1943: Emily Schwarz, the Anglo teacher at the isolated Pueblo of San Antonito, discovers the corpse of a nineteen-year-old boy, his blood mingling with the muddy waters of the tiny Rio Chiquito. Who shot Juan? His cousin? A jealous girlfriend? Emily's good friend then vanishes, followed by the disappearance of Juan's little brother. Aided by Gregorio Cruz, the tribal sheriff, and by the mysterious Mr. Shepherd, Emily's quest for truth leads to small Hispanic towns, Native American villages, and Bohemian Santa Fe. The search ultimately endangers her own life, and the investigation broadens. Is this a local killing, or could wartime secrets be at risk in this sleepy backwater?

Scotland, 1396: Euphemia MacPhee lives alone in a witch's cave with her healing herbs and an ancient skull for company. Her reclusive life shatters the day she learns that her four-year-old son, fostered on the Isle of Barra, has mysteriously fallen ill. Euphemia sails to remote Kisimul Castle to nurse the boy and soon discovers he has been poisoned. Why would someone strike at an innocent young child? Can she trust anyone there to help her fight this evil? Euphemia must utilize every remedy available to confront ancient malice and long-buried wounds, as she struggles to save her son and to clear her own name.

Oxford, 1374: At the command of the Lord of the Isles, Muirteach and his wife Mariota accompany Donald, the lord's surly thirteen-year-old son, to Oxford. Shortly after their arrival a winsome tavern maid disappears. Muirteach attempts to help Undersheriff Grymbaud with the investigation, as well as keep Donald at his studies and out of the taverns. He has little success with either venture. Mariota thirsts to attend medical lectures at the schools and seeks a way to gain admittance to these classes. An Oxford master is brutally bludgeoned to death, and Grymbaud asks Muirteach to investigate the slaying. The arrest of an aged servant for the murder stirs the ever-simmering discord between townsfolk and university students. Then Mariota vanishes. Gleaning clues from a cryptic manuscript and desperate to save his wife, a determined Muirteach tracks a wily killer through a dark and twisted labyrinth of deceit.