ZIA SUMMER

Small-time Albuquerque p.i. Sonny Baca, first introduced in Alburquerque [sic] (not seen), gets a case of his ownthe worst sort of case a shamus can havewhen his cousin and former lover, Gloria Dominic, is murdered. And there's worse news still to come about Gloria: A Zia sun was marked on her navel, and her blood drained while she was still alive; she also may have been pregnant when she was killed. May have beenbecause before the forensic lab can confirm any details of the preliminary report, Gloria's widower, mayoral candidate Frank Dominic, has her body cremated. With the local police chief and the county sheriff tripping over each other to avoid offending the man likely to be their new boss, it's up to Sonny to pick out the culprit from a gallery that includes: the gardener and the housekeeper Gloria fired; the Japanese computer mogul eager to forge a partnership with one Dominic or the other; an anti-nuclear activist willing to go the extra mile; and the members of a nearby hippie commune reputed to have sacrificed earlier victims, animal and human, in an eerily similar way. Chicano specialist Anaya has such a fine time showing off his impossibly rich and colorful cast, in fact, that he never gets around to developing much of a mystery. It's an omission that makes sense: His characters are all too invincibly themselves to be harboring any very mysterious secrets. (Author tour)