Dark Reservations

In Tony Hillerman Prize–winner Fortunato’s strong but overly complicated first novel, Joe Evers, a Bureau of Indian Affairs agent three months away from forced retirement, catches a cold case that will either sink him to a new low or allow him to escape with a high. In 1988, Arlen Edgerton, a New Mexico congressman; his secretary, Faye Hannaway; and their driver disappeared. Now the remains of their car have turned up on the state’s Navajo reservation. Besides bringing back rumors of corruption and infidelity, the reopened case threatens several powerful people, including Edgerton’s wife, Grace, who’s running for governor, and former Navajo Nation president William Tom, who suspects his much younger third wife of sleeping around. Joe manages to annoy them all in the course of his investigation, even as he contends with his hostile boss, Supervisory Special Agent in Charge Dale Warren, who no longer trusts him. Though Joe must navigate too many trails in his quest for the truth, he proves a resourceful hero. (Oct.)