The Shadow of Venus — Judith Van Gieson

When a young woman is found dead in the basement of the university library--with an illustration from a valuable astronomy book beside her--Claire recognizes the victim as someone she had met, but whose name she never knew. To learn more, Claire must descend into the haunting world of the homeless in Albuquerque, where the dead woman was known simply as Maia. It is a name with special meaning, the same as that of a mythical Greek woman who fled to the sky to escape her attacker. The illustration leads Claire to a secretive commune in Taos where Maia grew up--and may have suffered terrible abuse. But someone doesn't want Claire to shed too much light on the shadows of the past--and will do anything to stop her....