The Night Visitor: A Shaman Mystery

By James D. Doss

The morning after the aged Ute shaman receives a perplexing visits from a silent, disheveled matukach "magician," daisy's neighbor Nathan McFain discovers something astonishing buried in the dirt on his foundering Colorado dude ranch: the bones of gargantuan beast from a prehistoric age. It is a find of enormous scientific importance that attracts the attention of a wide variety of individual: noted paleontologist Moses Silver and his archaeologist daughter Delia; pillars of the scientific community Robert Newton and Cordell York; an Arkansas sharpie named Flye, an overly interested local antiques dealer.. and Charlie Moon of the Southern Ute Police Department. At the McFain spread primarily to keep an eye on the disreputable Flye, Moon is curious about the strange old bones ....and wary as well. For things this ancient and rare have been known to inspire evil deeds in the past, including avarice, mendacity, and murder. And when one of the prime players in this timeless drama vanishes without a trace, Charlie worries that his greatest fears have been realized. But while Charlie investigates the unexplained disappearance --and a very suspicious death that follows soon after--using rational and accepted police methods, his aunt Daisy is being drawn by forces preternatural into a grimly related mystery. For craven murder is not the exclusive domain of contemporary Man--and a cry for justice from the past has reached Daisy Perika and tow extraordinary young girls in her care, ensnaring them all in something old, dark, and dangerous.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 12, 2010
• ISBN: 9780062034748

James D. Doss

James D. Doss is the author of the Charlie Moon mysteries, including A Dead Man’s Tale and The Widow’s Revenge. Two of the Moon books were named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly.

Reviews for The Night Visitor

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An enjoyable series continues. Charley and his crotchety aunt are delightful and the two munchkins, that bedevil her, deserve to be continued. Convoluted plots and counterplots sustain interest to the very end. Archeological artifacts and their surrounding discoveries and disposition leaven the story nicely

[jastbrown · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable series. I think the whole series averages out to a four star review. Less serious than Tony Hillerman, more so than Carl Hiaasen. The locale, as with most of these Southwestern mystery novels, is a real part of the draw! If Daisy Perika's old homestead were real and being offered to me, I would be packing my bags instead of pecking away at this computer. The characters are likeable, the stories interesting (especially the first ten or so) if occasionally a liitle over the top. Mr. Doss includes just a touch of the supernatural, that I usually find attractive. All in all I find the stories wonderfully escapist.. all that I look for in fiction. While not necessary, I would recommend reading the stories in order if possible.