The Wrong Hill to Die On: An Alafair Tucker Mystery

Set in 1916, Casey’s evocative sixth Alafair Tucker mystery (after 2011’s Crying Blood) finds Alafair and husband Shaw traveling from their Oklahoma home to Tempe, Ariz., where they plan to stay with Alafair’s sister, Elizabeth. Intensive flooding makes the trip difficult, as does Alafair’s discovery of the body of Mexican handyman Bernie Arruda in an irrigation ditch after their arrival. Unrest in Mexico is driving poor refugees into Arizona, where they encounter resentment and prejudice among many locals, while Pancho Villa’s deadly raid in nearby Columbus arouses fears of spies and attacks. That movie star Hobart Bosworth is filming in Tempe excites the town’s residents. Alafair’s curiosity manages to put her in the middle of it all, including her sister’s troubled marriage and the region’s complex racial divisions. Her discovery of a second murder victim fuels fears of more outrages. Casey’s warm and wise heroine handles her multiple roles gracefully. (Dec.)