The Vanishing Kind

Henderson’s suspenseful fourth case for Alex Carter (after A Ghost of Caribou) finds the wildlife biologist’s field work in New Mexico disrupted by a murder. At the outset, Alex is hired by the Land Trust for Wildlife Conservation to gather data about jaguars in the Southwest, in hopes that the federal government will approve the organization’s proposal to reintroduce the animals to their former habitats in New Mexico. Soon after she gets started, Alex learns that bureaucratic protocol and potential jaguar attacks are the least of her worries: a white supremacist gang has been terrorizing people of color throughout the region, and a trigger-happy Wildlife Services agent named Roger Trager is more than happy to shoot the animals she’s studying—and possibly Alex herself. Then a friendly archaeologist working on a dig near Alex’s turf is stabbed to death and Alex, fearful she might be the next victim, takes it on herself to investigate. Henderson’s evident passion for and expertise in animal science enlivens the clever mystery plot. Fans of Paul Doiron’s Mike Bowditch series should check this out. Agent: Alex Slater, Trident Media Group. (Mar.)