Dead Lizard's Dance [Paperback]

Pamela Christie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2009

Dead Lizard's Dance is a historical mystery set in colonial New Mexico in 1782. This novel is the eagerly awaited sequel to the award winning mystery, The King's Lizard.

A man is dead, hung cruelly by his elbows, spinning Santa Fe into chaos at the very moment the King's inquisitors arrive. Despite Governor Anza's every effort, the deaths continue, so horrible they are deemed to be the work of witches. Pamela Christie's inadvertent sleuth, Nando, is ordered to find the killers, this time in Santa Fe's underworld of displaced women: the misfits, the stolen, the abandoned. But nothing is as it seems, and Nando, cannot be sure if the ladies he loves are in fact the very women he seeks for murder.

Constructed on sound historical bones, Dead Lizard's Dance transports the reader into a compelling time--early Santa Fe at its fiercest and best.

Editorial Reviews

Review

After the resounding success of Pamela Christie's 2004 novel, The King's Lizard, it is a treat to delve into its sequel, Dead Lizard's Dance. Christie has created another compelling and credible tale proving herself an imaginative storyteller with a down-to-earth grasp of early New Mexico. It adds up to high historical adventure and a page turning read. --David Grant Noble

Filled with rumors of witchcraft, blatant infidelity, betrayal, greed, magic love potions and murder, Dead Lizard's Dance is a highly readable romp through a juicy era of Southwestern history. Best of all, Pamela Christie's smart and likable underdog detective is back, solving crimes in 18th century Santa Fe. It's been a long time since I've read a book that informed and delighted me as much as this one. --Anne Hillerman

Take an historical novel set in Spanish Colonial New Mexico, add suspicions of witchcraft, lace it with a rousing good mystery, and you've got a winner in Pamela Christie's Dead Lizard's Dance. --Michael McGarrity

About the Author

Pamela Christie, long time Santa Fean, spent seven years researching and writing her latest historical mystery. Pam has explored New Mexico since 1970, gathering stories of the people who lived in the rugged kingdom centuries ago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 387 pages
• Publisher: Lone Butte Press; First edition (September 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966686098
• ISBN-13: 978-0966686098
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #975,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just loved it!, January 19, 2010

By 

Cynthia Marshall - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dead Lizard's Dance (Paperback)

What I love most about this book and Christie's first, "The King's Lizard", is how well they both let me feel what it might have been like to live in old Santa Fe. It's a complicated place, with Native American history, Spanish and Mexican history as well as US history and she winds a mystery all through this book that is understandable and fascinating. Nando is an interesting and roguish narrator who because of his mixed heritage, is able to slip in and out of many unusual places, find the villains and protect the innocent. This story goes from the governor of the territory all the way down to the region's "curandera's", who in those days were considered witches for their herbal healing knowledge. This is a good, fast-paced read that leaves you with the satisfied feeling of having read a good story and having also picked up a little knowledge on the way.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dead Lizard's Dance is alive with a thrilling tale of intrigue!, February 17, 2010

By 

T. L. Ray "Nando fan" (Iowa City, IA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dead Lizard's Dance (Paperback)

Hold on to your sombrero! This whirlwind adventure throws you on your heels as you try to keep your balance and stay up with the pace of life in Old Santa Fe. The plot is as twisted and convoluted as a trail through the Sangre de Cristo, while weaving a clash of cultures with ambition, greed, lust, witchcraft, treachery and revenge. Suspense and intrigue are richly blended with history and local lore to bring the past alive. Pamela Christie etches vivid images of the land, the weather, even the streets of Santa Fe. Thought you knew life in the early Spanish southwest? Think again. Nothing is what it seems to be, - except this is a wonderfully crafted thriller.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dead Lizard's Dance, December 21, 2009

By 

F. Brooke (Santa Fe) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dead Lizard's Dance (Paperback)

As someone who moved to Santa Fe because of the climate, the culture, the people.....it has been exciting to read Pamela Christie's historical novels about the early days of Spanish New Mexico. The history is accurate, the writing is well done; it keeps my interest from start to finish. Looking forward to more of the same.