The Big Gamble - Tapa dura

When a fire in an abandoned fruit stand in rural Lincoln County reveals the murdered body of a woman gone missing from Santa Fe years ago, Police Chief Kevin Kerney finds himself cooperating with his estranged son, a man he hardly knows, Deputy Sheriff Clayton Istee. While Kerney digs into the woman's past, hoping to find clues that will lead to a credible suspect, Clayton must unravel two more homicides that seem, on the surface, totally unrelated. Set against the backdrop of the high mountains of southern New Mexico, where gambling is big business and private sexual encounters for VIPs can be arranged discreetly, Kerney and Clayton must go up against rich and politically powerful opponents who are willing to protect their reputations at all costs. The Big Gamble is a multi-layered, powerful novel of crime and punishment set against the beauty and pristine majesty of the US's most magnificent landscapes - and a solid addition to a series that continues to gain legions of devoted readers.

Michael McGarrity is the author of the Anthony Award-nominated novel Tularosa as well as Mexican Hat, Serpent Gate, Hermit's Peak, The Judas Judge and The Colour of Law all of which were published by Robert Hale. A former deputy sheriff, he established the first Sex Crimes Unit in Santa Fe County. He has also served at New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy and as an investigator for the New Mexico Public Defender's Office. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.