Exposure

Emerson’s riveting second paranormal thriller featuring Rita Todacheene (after Shutter) finds the Navajo forensic photographer laying low following the traumatic events of the previous novel. Long viewed with suspicion because of her ability to see ghosts, Rita has become a pariah among her law enforcement colleagues after exposing corruption in the department. Her medical leave ends early when she’s called to a gruesome crime scene where teenager Jude Montaño—the eldest son of a retired Albuquerque detective—appears to have killed his entire family. At the scene, the ghosts of Jude’s young siblings appear to Rita. One of them leads her to evidence suggesting that their father was sexually abusing them, and that Jude is innocent. Unable to toe the thin blue line of silence, Rita resigns and returns to her family on the reservation near Gallup, N.Mex. Her peace is short-lived, however, as the ghosts of indigent Native people who died at the hands of a clergy-affiliated serial killer begin to haunt her, and she’s forced to launch an under-the-radar investigation that she suspects could connect to the Montaño case. Visceral prose (a young ghost’s breath “smelled of blood and gunpowder”) elevates Emerson’s impressive blend of crime fiction and supernatural horror. This series deserves a long life. Agent: Nancy Stauffer, Nancy Stauffer Assoc. (Oct.)