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Carolina 'Carly' May is an historian who has been hired by an elderly woman to document her family's history. Winifred Simmons y Castillo is a member of one of the oldest families in New Mexico. Her sister, Sylvia, was married to the former senator, who has just died. Andrew Quintrell was a womanizer all his life and his sister-in-law has always hated him. She tells Carly that she wants the history to be only that of the Castillo family, but Carly knows that she has to include the Quintrells just by virtue of their intermarriage with the Castillos. No one other than Winifred welcomes Carly. Andrew's son, the governor of the state, has been mentioned as a presidential candidate. He and his wife certainly don't want anything negative to be published about the family. Yet, Winifred hints there are secrets. Carly is staying at the ranch, which is the old homestead of first the Castillos, and now the Quintrells. When she goes to the newspaper office in town to search the archives, she meets Daniel Duran, the brother of the editor. Dan says he is on vacation and that he fell while climbing, which explains his limping. Carly and Dan are attracted to each other from the first and Dan is around when someone plays nasty tricks on Carly, such as a dead rat on her pillow. Dan is very mysterious about his past and his profession, but he seems to know his way around guns and dealing with unpleasant people. As the story progresses, we learn that he works for some very shadowy governmental agency, one that the public never hears of. Dan and Carly team up to find out who is so anxious to drive Carly away. And Carly, realizing that Winifred is seriously ill, needs to complete her research as soon as possible in order to have a finished product to show Winifred before something happens to her. Carly also has another ally, modern technology. Amid all the discussions of illegitimate children, Carly and Winifred have decided to utilize DNA testing. There is a large cast of characters in this book; many are peripheral to the action but the main ones are plentiful enough. No one seems to want to help Carly, and then there are mysterious deaths. In fact, as the book opens, we learn that the old senator did not die a natural death. The natural beauty of the winter countryside of New Mexico is also central to the book. The families and the history of the state are intertwined and the author imparts many interesting historical facts. The characters are well developed; Carly, Daniel and Winifred are intelligent and compelling. And there is no downtime in this book, it is non-stop action until the very end. The bad guys are very bad indeed, corruption and illegal activities are their daily routines. The reader might have to ask -- is it really worth knowing so much about your ancestors and your relatives?
Reviewed by Lorraine Gelly, August 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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