Queen of the Night
Sheriff Brandon Walker #4
J A Jance

Harper
March 2011/ ISBN 978-0062044891
Mystery
Amazon

Reviewed by Barbara Buhrer

In Los Angeles Jonathan Southard kills his wife and children and goes after his remarried mother in Tucson....

In Tucson people are gathering to view the nightblooming cereus -- Queen of the Night -- a desert plant that blooms once a year.

Jack Tennant's planned anniversary surprise dinner for Abigail viewing a giant cereus is destroyed by gunfire. The attack also kills an innocent couple in the area. The sole witness is the couple's little girl. Walker's adopted daughter, Dr. Lani Walker, with Dan Pardee of Shadow Wolves border patrol vow to protect her.

Dan Walker, retired homicide detective is investigating the killings while he is worried about his wife who is suffering from hallucinations about a dead man who once terrorized her. His search for the killer leads to clues about a long unsolved murder of an Arizona coed in 1959.

In Queen of the Night Jance carries on the Hillerman tradition of the culture of the South Arizona Native Americans. There is much about the lives of the Native American people, their traditions and legends. This serves as a background for a suspense-filled story of revenge, obsession and love. The characters are complex -- some struggling with their experiences in the past -- others with their support for loved ones.