Grave Consequences
A Charlie Henry Mystery
-
- $12.99
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
Charlie Henry, former Special Forces operative and newly minted pawnbroker, thinks that he's finally turned a corner and the calm, quiet life he's always wanted is just ahead. But life never really works out that way.
A young Navajo man comes into Charlie's shop, FOB Pawn, claiming that his girlfriend mistakenly pawned a beautiful family heirloom, a turquoise necklace that she desperately needs back. When he's unable to produce any proof of this tale, Charlie is immediately suspicious and sticks by the golden pawnbroker rule: No claim ticket, no exchange. Then the young man returns with reinforcements—and guns—making it abundantly clear that there's more to this story than a family treasure.
This necklace quickly becomes the focus of a case where everyone lies, and every question seems to answer with gunfire. With the help of his semi-estranged brother, Alfred, a tribal cop working undercover, Charlie quickly finds out that the pendant was the work of a Navajo silversmith who was recently murdered. And, in an act so taboo in Navajo culture as to be unthinkable, his grave dug up and this piece of jewelry removed. With multiple parties vying to get their hands on the necklace—for what ill-gotten gains, no one knows—it's up to Charlie and his comrades-in-arms to help find out who's really telling the truth, and uncover the mysteries that this heirloom holds.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A gorgeous silver and turquoise necklace fuels theft and murder in the Thurlos' fast-paced and plot-driven sequel to 2014's The Pawnbroker. Charlie Henry and his staff are well aware that people sometimes try to pass off stolen goods at pawn shops like Charlie's, in Albuquerque, N.Mex. But when Lola Tso comes to drop off a necklace, they don't have an inkling that the piece was made by a famous, recently deceased Navajo silversmith. And it's no ordinary theft it's the product of a grave robbery. Charlie and his cop friends suspect that Lola, a former prostitute with sticky fingers, is a middleman, or an innocent bystander caught up in a much larger criminal network. But she drops out of sight, scared for her life. Occasional asides about such subjects as the politics of Native American Anglo encounters enliven the search for Lola and whoever is behind the grave robbery. Well-drawn minor characters are a plus.