Book Description
Allana Martin's sixth color-filled mystery, set in a remote spot on the Mexican-American border, opens with an unexpected and terrible blow for trading-post owner Texana Jones. Her husband, Clay, a popular veterinarian with patients on both sides of the (almost dry) Rio Grande, has been arrested for the murder of the river master, the official in charge of allocating the region's scan water supply under the terms of the binational agreement. Now Clay is in jail awaiting trial in a Mexican court.
Having lived all her life on the fringe of Mexico, Texana is anything but naive about their harsh legal system - where there is no such thing as bail, habeas corpus, probation, or early release. The fate of the accused is not in the hands of a jury, but the hands of a single judge, a judge who may be fair, or who may have self-interests that will sway the verdict. And, unfortunately, the latter is more likely.
Determined to find incontrovertible evidence of Clay's innocence that even the most venial judge would not dare to overlook, she delves into the river master's background - at no small risk. Whoever is behind all this is determined to hold on to the spoils of the effort. Texana must use all her senses, her ingenuity, and her courage to free her blameless husband from the coils of the Mexican judicial snare and the enemy behind it.
Martin's firm hold on the unusual lives of the people who live - and try to make a living against many odds - in the small area where these stories are set pulls readers into a world they never knew. The strength and reality of Texana Jones's extraordinary common sense and human understanding convince her readers that she's their friend, one whose adventures they share.
About the Author
Allana Martin lives in Marfa, Texas, with her husband. Her first novel, Death of a Healing Woman, won the Western Writers of America Medicine Pipe Bearer Award. She is a former journalism teacher.
Death of the River Master FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Allana Martin's mystery, set in a remote spot on the Mexican-American border, opens with an unexpected and terrible blow for trading-post owner Texana Jones. Her husband, Clay, a popular veterinarian with patients on both sides of the (almost dry) Rio Grande, has been arrested for the murder of the river master, the official in charge of allocating the region's scant water supply under the terms of the binational agreement. Now Clay is in jail awaiting trial in a Mexican court." "Having lived all her life on the fringe of Mexico, Texana is anything but naive about their harsh legal system - where there is no such thing as bail, habeas corpus, probation, or early release. The fate of the accused is not in the hands of a jury, but the hands of a single judge, a judge who may be fair, or who may have self-interests that will sway the verdict. And, unfortunately, the latter is more likely." Determined to find incontrovertible evidence of Clay's innocence that even the most venial judge would not dare to overlook, she delves into the river master's background - at no small risk. Whoever is behind all this is determined to hold on to the spoils of the effort. Texana must use all her senses, her ingenuity, and her courage to free her blameless husband from the coils of the Mexican judicial snare and the enemy behind it.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Those thirsty for a refreshing read will welcome Martin's sixth mystery (after 2001's Death of the Last Villista) to feature hip trading-post owner Texana Jones, which focuses on some all too real problems along the arid Texas-Chihuahua border. When Zanjiv Mehendru, head of the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water commission (aka the River Master), is found shot in his car in Ojinaga, Mexico, Texana's veterinary husband, Clay, is charged with the murder. Mehendru had made plenty of enemies across the Rio Grande in Texas, where his pro-Mexican policies had deprived Texas farmers of the river's precious water. But the Mexican police's arrest of Clay-who was dozens of miles away on a professional call the night of the murder-seems one of mere convenience. In her efforts to exonerate her husband, Texana uncovers far more likely suspects, from the farmer whose father had been ruined by Mehendru's efforts to the environmental group Bonis Avidus, which is aggressively buying up ranches along the border. Martin's evocation of this region is as clear as the desert air. Her observation that the border areas share more with each other than with their respective countries, however, collides with the big differences between American and Mexican laws. Those differences provide much of the book's tension, as Clay languishes in a Mexican jail with faint hope of real justice. (July 7) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Where is the water? Texana Jones ends up asking from her bordertown trading post when her veterinarian husband is arrested for murder. How could anybody imagine that Clay Jones could kill anybody, least of all Zanjiv Mehendru, head of the US Section of the International Boundary Water Commission, a man he hardly knew? The case against Clay—a drug-addicted prostitute places him at the scene, then quickly vanishes into a private rehab clinic before she can be confronted by a solid alibi and records that show that she was in jail herself at the time of the murder—would collapse like a house of cards if only it were being tried in a Texas court. But since Zanjiv was shot in Ojinaga, the case is tried by a Mexican magistrate who has virtually unlimited discretion, and apparently unlimited animus against Clay. Although Zanjiv had plenty of enemies, especially among the powerful interests fighting for control of the parched regionﾽs dwindling water supply, the biggest puzzle here is why anybody would have chosen Clay to frame for his murder, and thatﾽs the puzzle Martin solves most handsomely in this otherwise not exactly baffling case. Despite the skimpy mystery, Texanaﾽs sixth (Death of the Last Villista, 2001, etc.) offers more than enough local color to make you think about packing your bags—and a couple of canteens, just to be safe.
Art & Photography
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