The Legend of the Slain Soldiers — Marcia Muller

Santa Barbara's Fiesta brings droves of visitors to Elena Oliverez's Museum of Mexican Arts. And a shocking murder. Dead on Fiesta Eve is Elena's friend, Ciro Siseros, a historian researching the Legend of the Slain Soldiers, a slaughter of Mexican-American farm workers during the depression. But can the mysterious death of union organizers in the 1930s be linked to the killing of a gentle old man today? Elena is soon studying paintings of the era for clues and piecing together a picture of her heritage that is etched in blood: a violent strike, a great passion, and a deadly secret someone now wants Elena to take to her grave.