Still Life — Rick Hanson

Spare Parts and Mortal Remains, Rick Hanson's savagely funny Adam McCleet mysteries, have thrilled readers everywhere. Now, Still Life takes the ex-marine, ex-cop, and hopefully-soon-to-be-famous sculptor to the holy mecca of high art: Taos, New Mexico. At the cajoling of his sister, Margot, Adam combines his trip to Taos with a reluctant visit to the man-eating divorcee's latest settlement acquisition: a rustic hacienda hideaway in an unmapped desert town called Morning. But as Adam soon discovers, mayhem rules Morning...especially when he finds himself face down in the dirt beside a battered corpse--with the local sheriff holding a shotgun on him.