Cart of Death

By Mari Privette Ulmer

Book Overview

Enjoy Taos as it celebrates its sacred and secular festivals. It's murder. Ole The warm portrait of New Mexico's Hispanic community recalls Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me Ultima (0-446-60025-3) or John Nichol's Milagro Beanfield War (0-345-41016-5).The Taos Festival mysteries continue with Las Fiestas Christina Garcia y Grant's lovely old hacienda, converted from her grandmother's gracious abode to a B&B so that lawyer Christy can pursue a writing career, is bursting with guests. Not all of them are welcome. Meanwhile, the Friday night La Fiestacita summons la gente, the people. Though they have come to party, the presence of La Doqa Sebastiana, Death, is a reminder that life is only worth living if Death is close at hand. ""It's the edge, the risk, that gives color.""La Doqa Sebastiana does summon someone to her death cart before the night is over, only the partygoers don't know it. Newcomer Evelyn Bottoms, a suave Englishman, is unaware that his gallery El Museo has been burglarized and Bobby Mascarenas killed. Missing is Cindy, Bobby's co-employee and the date of lawyer Ignacio Baca, who spends La Fiestacita looking vainly for her. The next morning reveals the grim story.Christy, moved by Iggy's grief and willing to help her new friend, Dr. Bottoms, queries her primo, Police Chief Garcia, and learns that her cousin has little to go on. Aided by her more-or-less permanent boarder (and suitor) Mac McCloud, a retired surgeon, and her old friend La Doqa Abogado, New Mexico's first woman lawyer, Christy queries the local arts community and learns that someone is stealing priceless art from local churches. Is there a link between the robberies and the murder? And there seemto be a lot of newcomers to town...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1890208574
• ISBN13: 9781890208578
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Murder and intrigue in Taos

This is the second highly readable book in Mari Ulmer's murder mystery series set in Taos, NM. The book is rich in atmosphere and abounds with colorful characters from Taos's unique blend of Spanish, Native American, and Anglo cultures. Featured are: a reluctant sleuth who would rather be writing fiction than solving mysteries; a pair of foppish art dealers who are mysteriously poisoned; a suspicious entrepreneur; a corrupt archivist; and many more characters. The plot has a surprise twist that will astonish even the most jaded readers.

A Must Buy for all Mystery Readers

If you like Tony Hillerman's books; you will love these. Mari Ulmer has created an unique series of mysteries set during the feast and festival days of Taos, New Mexico. Her heroine and hero and engaging and fun. The book leaves you feeling like you just spent two wonderful weeks in Taos actually taking part in the festival; standing in the plaza in the hot sun, eating fried onions and peppers, following the parade into the quiet, dusky confines of the church. Along the way, you dine with the residents, visit all the historic places and stay in the local bed and breakfast, a wonderful old haceinda. This is a terrific new author and I can't wait for the next book.

A regional mystery that is fantastic

After her husband died, attorney Christina Garcia y Grant returns to her hometown of Talpa, New Mexico just south of Taos. Talpa is a small community where crime rarely happens and Catholicism is firmly rooted. At times there is a feeling of the mystical in the air. Christy, tired of the law, turns her grandmother's hacienda into a bed and breakfast inn that is gaining in popularity.While the townsfolk prepare for Las Fiestas holiday, a clever thief systematically steals valuable artifacts from the local churches. Further complicating matters, someone burglarizes a gallery killing an employ with another missing, the girlfriend of Christy's protege. The B & B owner and her close friends begin their brand of sleuthing in hopes of stopping a crime spree but mostly saving the life of an innocent.Mari Ulmer creates a story line that often reads like a ballad even though the tale is a regional mystery. The culture of an old fashioned town vividly comes to life in CARRETA DE LA MUERTE. Readers will admire the characters that star in this fresh and unusual series. There are some books that are so memorable they are unforgettable and this is one of them.Harriet Klausner