Showing The Death of Bernadette Lefthand by Ron Querry

Winner of two regional book awards and overwhelming praise, this gripping first novel about the mysterious death of a young Indian woman is a stunning portrayal of the spirit and struggles of contemporary Southwest native peoples.

Even today, on the vast Navajo Nation that occupies large portions of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, the Navajo believe witchcraft is at work. Some suspect it is the dark force behind the brutal murder of Bernadette Lefthand, a young woman renowned on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation for her kindness, her beauty, and her graceful traditional dancing. Others suspect Bernadette’s hard-drinking Navajo husband, Anderson George, who has disappeared. Gracie, Bernadette’s teenage sister, tries to make sense of the vortex of doom in which the young couple seems to have been caught, while Bernadette’s white employer and an unnamed stranger reveal a tale of betrayal and tragedy.

In prose rich with the rhythms and colors of powwows, rodeos, beer joints, and pickup trucks roaring down desert highways, Ron Querry paints vivid portrait of the lives of contemporary Native Americans. A riveting tale of passion, obsession, and destruction, this is a compelling novel about heritage, family, and the dark magic of the twisted soul.