Surveillance on an insurance fraud case in Bear Butte County unfolds tragically for PI Julie Collins when the reappearance of a mysterious hole—the cause of a fatal accident—brings about the landowner’s unsettling confession. Bones were recently uncovered on the remote ridge but, fearing repercussions from their illegal off-season hunting, the hunters reburied the remains and kept quiet. Now the hole is back, but the bones have vanished. Julie is left to wonder Were the bones part of an ancient Indian burial ground or perhaps connected to the unsolved disappearance of a Native American woman? The overworked, understaffed sheriff asks for Julie’s help, but the case opens old wounds and she soon finds herself at odds with the Native American community. On the wrong side of tribal politics, family disputes, and employee rivalries, Julie continues to dig for answers, while the personal stakes climb ever higher.
Lori Armstrong is a fourth generation South Dakotan. She left the firearms industry in 2000 to pursue her dream of writing crime/mystery fiction. The first book in the Julie Collins mystery series, BLOOD TIES was nominated for a 2005 Shamus Award for Best First Novel by Private Eye Writers of America. HALLOWED GROUND was nominated for a 2006 Shamus Award and won the 2007 WILLA Cather Literary Award. SHALLOW GRAVE was nominated for a 2008 High Plains Book Award and was a finalist for the 2008 WILLA Cather Literary Award. The 4th book in this series, SNOW BLIND, won the 2008 Shamus Award for Best Paperback Original.
The first book in the Mercy Gunderson mystery series, NO MERCY, recently won the 2010 Shamus for Best Hardcover Novel and was a finalist for the WILLA Cather Literary Award. MERCY KILL, was released 1-11-11 from Touchstone(Simon and Schuster)
Lori lives in Rapid City, South Dakota.
