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Texana Jones lives on the Texas side of the poverty stricken West Texas-Mexico border, a place that was once lush and green but is now desert, a place where residents on both sides of the border have a hard time earning a living. she runs the trading post, a general store where all come for necessities and where she has free movie nights for the children. Her husband is the local vet. Clay and Texana go to Ojinaga, Mexico, to have dinner with friends. Ojinaga is across the Rio Grande from Presidio. Six weeks earlier, Zanjiv Mehendru, head of the International Boundary and Water Commission, had been killed. There are no clues to his murder, but that night, Clay is arrested for Zanjiv's murder. Texana's friends hire a lawyer for her but there is little hope. Clay is incarcerated in a Mexican jail, and is at the whim of the Mexican legal system, a system in which a single judge has all the cards. The picture of a Mexican prison is horrifying. Clay gets a few privileges by curing the warden's cat of the insects that have been infesting his ears. Texana travels several hours daily to see Clay and bring him some food, before she agrees to have a local woman supply him with edibles. She hires a locum because Clay is the only Vet for miles, and the ranchers and residents need someone to care for their livestock and pets. Martin depicts the border country with devastating reality. Water is life and there are too many people and too little water. But the residents of the area are used to helping each other. This is the 6th in the series and can be read as a stand alone but I urge you to search out and read all the books in order in this much under appreciated series.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, August 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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