New Mexico, 1943. A hot summer scorches up when residents of a small town begin burning to death. Spontaneous human combustion or some very strange assassinations? It's up to Sheriff Sam Sinrod and the county coroner, Bryce Whitlock, to find out. But how do you investigate an unexplained death when all you have is a box of ashes? And what possible connection could an elderly nun, an insane former state employee, and an itinerant banjo player have to the case? To say this entertaining novel is unusual is rather a large understatement. Not only does the author liven the proceedings with offbeat humor and a large cast of curious characters, there's also the matter of the metal cylinder that fell to Earth, leaking green fluid, not to mention some very startling revelations (from deep left field) at the end of the book.
