North of Taos, New Mexico, an unidentified murder victim wearing a belt with a turquoise buckle of rare dendrite quality is discovered on the edge of the Tulona Reservation. Tribal policeman Richard Tafoya takes charge of the investigation to determine the identity and killer. Tafoya meets Forest Service biology specialist Janet Rael as he follows leads from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the Navajo Reservation in the west. Within a social interplay of Puebloan, Hispano, and Anglo cultures, Tafoya searches for the kill site to unravel the strange numbers on the back of the turquoise stones. The Tulona Pueblo's ceremonies of racing and pole climbing on Feast Day provide a mystical overlay to the chase. With the aid of a Navajo medicine man and a cartographer with the Bureau of Land Management, Tafoya and Janet discover not only the prehistoric turquoise mine, but also the killer. Along the way they brave high mountain altitudes, desert mesas, National Forests, and sharp changes in weather from desert heat to snow and rain. Includes Readers Guide.