The Deadly Canyon

Fans of Page's series hero, big, blind Santa Fe sculptor Mo Bowdre, will surely relish this sequel to The Stolen Gods . Readers unacquainted with Mo's charms may be somewhat mystified. The sculptor's character seems mostly defined by his laugh--a weird noise that punctuates his conversation at odd moments--and his sensitivity, which is here mentioned more than demonstrated. His Hopi lover, Connie Barnes, is enigmatic and silent to the point of caricature. She also does the driving, in this instance to a remote research institute in the wilds of New Mexico. There the FBI hopes to use Mo's gifts of detection to help them figure out the case that has led to an undercover agent's death at the bottom of Skeleton Canyon. The narrative thread knots as tribal legends about hidden gold tangle with with hints of a present-day smuggling ring and bitterly feuding academics. Page writes with masterful understatement about Mo's blindness--it is rarely referred to, and, beyond the driving limitations, doesn't much slow him down. The locales and cultural heritage represented here, however, have been plied to better effect in Tony Hillerman's mysteries and in James Doss's soon to be published debut, The Shaman Sings . (Mar.)