Nothing is planted deep in this disappointing entry (after 2002's Tracking Bear
) in the Thurlos' popular series starring Navajo Special Investigator Ella Clah. Here Ella's mom, Rose Destea, takes center stage. When the tribe's medicinal and ceremonial plants start vanishing from the reservation, the tribal council appoints Rose, a Plant Watcher, to investigate the problem, and she soon confirms that someone is indeed stealing these invaluable resources. Rose requests that the medicine men who use the plants assist by revealing only to her their ancestral plant-gathering locations. Little does she realize that acquiring this information will jeopardize her safety. After a chance meeting, Rose enlists the aid of old friend Charlie Dodge, whose appearance finally changes the tone of this otherwise placid tale of botany to something more menacing. Ella appears in a tense conclusion, but all in all, this is the coziest of cozies, long on horticultural detail and short on mystery. (Nov. 10)
