Mourning Dove (Ella Clah Series #11)

What did the dead man know?

Jimmy Blacksheep, a Navajo member of the New Mexico National Guard recently returned from Iraq, is killed in what appears to be a carjacking gone wrong. But when Navajo Police Special Investigator Ella Clah receives a mysterious package in the mail, she begins to suspect that Jimmy's death is part of something larger.

Ella finds she must use Navajo lore, not FBI cryptography, to decode Jimmy's message. Tantalizing clues link Jimmy's death to his military service—but what could the medic have seen in Iraq that would make him a target for murder back home?

Ella's personal life seems just as complicated as her case. Her mother, Rose Destea, marries her long-time beau, Herman Cloud. Then the father of Ella's daughter, Dawn, asks for a change in custody arrangements that will reduce Ella to a weekend mother—a much easier fit with her workload but something that will take a terrible toll on her heart.

Ella Clah faces changes in her personal life and a challenging case in this newest Southwestern mystery from Aimée and David Thurlo. Investigating the death of a Navajo member of the New Mexico National Guard, Ella finds that the dead man possessed eviden

Publishers Weekly

When an apparent carjacking takes the life of a tribesman recently returned from Iraq in the Thurlos' solid 12th Ella Clah novel (after 2005's White Thunder), the Navajo Tribal Police Special Investigator finds enough differences between this incident and the reservation's spate of carjackings to suspect the scenario is a coverup for murder. Ella's suspicions increase when fellow returning National Guardsmen describe the victim, Jimmy Blacksheep, as never having been a "team player." Now Clah and her officers must learn what sort of games these men were playing. The key lies in the manuscript pages of a tale the dead man wrote based on animals both familiar to and dissimilar from those of Navajo mythology. The handsome new pastor at Ella's cousin's church offers his considerable investigative skills and mysteriously high security clearance to help break Blacksheep's code. Add some new friction between Ella and her daughter Dawn's father, plus a significant announcement from Ella's mother, Rose, and you've got an all-around satisfying adventure. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Aimée and David Thurlo are the authors of the Ella Clah series, the Lee Nez series of Navajo vampire mysteries, and the Sister Agatha novels. Their other works include Plant Them Deep, a novel featuring Rose Destea, the mother of Ella Clah, and The Spirit Line, a young adult novel.

David was raised on the Navajo Reservation and taught school there until his recent retirement. Aimée, a native of Cuba, has lived in the US for many years. They live in Corrales, New Mexico, and often make appearances at area bookstores.