When the long-cherished statue of the Santa Nino de Atocha disappears, village leaders decide to keep the news from the Church hierarchy for fear of reprisal. They suspect the culprits are among the local hippies, Protestants, drug dealers, Anglos and other outsiders. But when the statue mysteriously reappears and their beloved chapel sacristan is attacked, favorite son Jay Sierra and his pal, Ernie Lucero, team up to investigate. Long forgotten facts about the little statue take everyone by surprise and lead to the cozy conclusion of this delightful crime novel set in an elbow of time during the 1970s in a high mountain valley in northern New Mexico. Elizabeth Ann Galligan, Ph.D., poet and educator, retired in 2007 from Eastern New Mexico University. She enjoys the multicultural heritage of the Southwest and is enchanted by its ever changing landscape. She holds degrees in Anthropology, Latin American Studies, and Curriculum and Instruction in Multicultural Teacher Education. Elizabeth lives in her city of choice, Albuquerque, New Mexico where she pursues reading, writing, poetry, and gazing at the Sandia Mountains. Her poetry appears in several anthologies and journals and in in a number of university publications.

When the long-cherished statue of the Santa Nino de Atocha disappears, village leaders decide to keep the news from the Church hierarchy for fear of reprisal. They suspect the culprits are among the local hippies, Protestants, drug dealers, Anglos and other outsiders. But when the statue mysteriously reappears and their beloved chapel sacristan is attacked, favorite son Jay Sierra and his pal, Ernie Lucero, team up to investigate. Long forgotten facts about the little statue take everyone by surprise and lead to the cozy conclusion of this delightful crime novel set in an elbow of time during the 1970s in a high mountain valley in northern New Mexico.Elizabeth Ann Galligan, Ph.D., poet and educator, retired in 2007 from Eastern New Mexico University. She enjoys the multicultural heritage of the Southwest and is enchanted by its ever changing landscape. She holds degrees in Anthropology, Latin American Studies, and Curriculum and Instruction in Multicultural Teacher Education. Elizabeth lives in her city of choice, Albuquerque, New Mexico where she pursues reading, writing, poetry, and gazing at the Sandia Mountains. Her poetry appears in several anthologies and journals and in in a number of university publications.