Hearts of the Missing

“New Mexico is a spectacular setting for mysteries, and Carol Potenza puts its majestic landscape to unexpected and thrilling use.” —David Morrell, New York Times–bestselling author

Winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize

Members of the Fire-Sky tribe have disappeared with a trace, but no one takes notice except a young woman who turns up dead by suicide. Pueblo Police Sergeant Nicky Matthews is assigned to the case but nothing adds up . . . until the suicide becomes a murder to hide the trail of a killer connected to dozens of missing tribe members.

As Nicky delves deeper, she discovers a chilling threat that strikes at the very heart of what it means to be Fire-Sky: the missing were murdered because of ancestry, and, in a vengeful twist, the killer ensures the spirits of those taken will wander forever, lost to their People.

With a hostile captain, interference by a politically powerful ex-lover, and a burgeoning relationship with an undercover agent investigating the murders, Nicky doesn’t know who she can trust. And when those closest to her are put in jeopardy, Nicky must be willing to sacrifice everything to save the people she loves.

“Tony Hillerman Prize recipient Carol Potenza strikes gold with her upcoming police procedural debut Hearts of the Missing.” —Linda Castillo, New York Times–bestselling author

“In the Hillerman tradition, Carol Potenza’s Hearts of the Missing winds and weaves together like a Tsiba’ashi D’yini basket holding one fine mystery.” —Craig Johnson, New York Times–bestselling author