Dead Soul

A dash of humor and a sprinkling of romance season Doss's eighth Charlie Moon mystery (after 2002's White Shell Woman). The part-time Ute tribal investigator and full-time rancher looks into the death of fellow tribesman Billy Smoke, murdered during an assault that left Billy's high-profile employer, Senator Patch Davidson, permanently crippled. An explosion at a new airport adds to the body count. Meanwhile, Charlie's acid-tongued Aunt Daisy, a shaman and tribal elder, pulls Charlie into more intrigue when her otherworldly visions focus on a missing red-haired campus policewoman. Allan Pearson, Patch's spoiled orphaned nephew, is hiding more than his own insecurity behind his mask of arrogance, while Miss James, Patch's beautiful assistant, seems to be Charlie's fatal attraction. And ranch foreman Henry Buford, formerly with the Defense Intelligence Agency, is clearly a man who would take or give a bullet to defend those who trust him. Despite his good nature and gentle heart, Charlie winds up in plenty of skirmishes, including a slugfest with Half-Ton, a mammoth biker whose entourage later returns with a vengeance. But these guys are the least of his worries. If the killing is ever to stop, Moon must send a certain ""dead soul"" to his rest. (Sept. 15)