Click to order!

SNARE BY DEBORAH J LEDFORD

A SHADOW REVIEW

Deborah Ledford, a well-known local author and leading light of the Sisters-in-Crime writing group, has published her second music themed mystery.  In her first novel,  “Staccato”, classical music provided the focal point but in “Snare”  she takes us into the world of pop-music.

Ledford’s heroine, reclusive native-american singer-composer Katina Salvo is a complicated young lady with a brutal past.  She lives secluded life watched over by her British manager and protector, Petra Sullivan.  After much success they decide to finally give Katina’s public a chance to see her perform for the first time in a live show.  They choose a theater in North Carolina in conjunction with an Indian festival.  Despite receiving death threats Katina is assured all will be fine.  She is assigned personal security in the person of Deputy Steven Hawk.  However during the show Katina thinks she spots a dark figure from her past and runs from the stage as all hell breaks loose.

In a harrowing scene Katina and Hawk are hunted by this evil vision through the underground labyrinth of the theater.  Hawk is seriously wounded in defending Katina but help arrives amid mounting chaos.

Is Katina’s attacker Taima, a mysterious man from her past?  Or could it be her father, just released from prison for killing her mother?  In a desperate bid for answers Katina, with a wounded Hawk in tow, returns to her roots on the Taos Pueblo Indian reservation in New Mexico.  She knows her aunt Sylvie holds all the secrets of her past but will she share them?

From the mountains of North Carolina to the strange ways of the Taos Pueblo Ledford leads us on a twisted road filled with suspense and a real insight into the Native American sensibility.

Ledfod, who is part Cherokee herself, shows enormous empathy and insight into the plight of the original settlers of our land.  Despite many obstacles Katina battles her demons and reclaims her spirit power in time to confront her tormentors in a harrowing finale. The Phoenix area is becoming an ever expanding hotbed for writers and Ledford’s series is a welcome addition.  Her books are well-deserved  nominee’s for the Hillerman Sky Award.

As a side note I would like to praise the cover art on her first two books.  They are the two most striking covers I have seen in a long time.    – STEVE SHADOW SCHWARTZ

•