Praise for the Carlos Tejada Alonso y Leon series:

"Rebecca Pawel [has] set the mystery world agog."-Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post Book World

"The best new mystery author to come around in a long time . . . an astonishing achievement in writing and psychological development . . . she knows how to make a reader care. Her books are intense, the writing impeccable. She propels the plot at a riveting pace. What a pleasure it is to find Ms. Pawel-a major new voice."-Marietta Dunn, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"[Pawel] frames the difficult and moral questions of the era in the lives of her fascinating characters, bringing history alive."-Rocky Mountain News

"What distinguishes her among other writers of the genre is her intelligent re-creation of the time period and her ability to get into the minds of the fascist characters."-Alan Cheuse, The Dallas Morning News

"Wonderful. . . . Pawel resists easy solutions to historically difficult problems."-Chicago Tribune

In the southern city of Granada, Spain, bastion of the conservative Catholic aristocracy, fear of the Red Menace is still strong in 1945. One rich, arrogant, elderly lady summons the police to her home almost once a week; she is sure Communists are plotting against her. She changes her will almost as often. When she is found dead, the long-suffering local police can't believe that she really may have been murdered. But as her latest will has vanished, the death must be investigated.

Influence is exerted to have Lieutenant Carlos Tejada Alonso y Leon transferred temporarily from Potes, in the northern mountains where he has been stationed, to take charge because the rich old lady is his grand aunt Rosalia, and one of the chief suspects is his father. The family expects Tejada to exonerate its members, but Tejada is a man who puts duty first.