Queen of the Night: A Novel of Suspense (Walker Family Mysteries)

Every summer, the Queen of the Night flower blooms in the Arizona desert—a sacred event commemorated throughout the Tohono O'odham Nation. But this year, one couple's celebration is prematurely destroyed by gunfire . . . and the sole witness to the carnage is a little girl who has lost the only family she's ever known. Dr. Lani Walker recognizes the trauma of her own childhood reflected in her devastated young patient. Joining Dan Pardee—a member of the unorthodox Shadow Wolves border patrol—Lani vows to keep the child safe while tracking down a ruthless killer. Meanwhile, Lani's adoptive father, retired homicide detective Brandon Walker, sees a break in his investigation of the long unsolved murder of an Arizona State University coed—while his wife, Diana Ladd, relives terrible memories of a man whose death haunts her still. Every summer, in an event that is commemorated throughout the Tohono O'odham Nation, the Queen of the Night flower blooms in the Arizona desert. But one couple's intended celebration is shattered by gunfire, the sole witness to the bloodshed a little girl who has lost the only family she's ever known. To her rescue come Dr. Lani Walker, who sees the trauma of her own childhood reflected in her young patient, and Dan Pardee, an Iraq war veteran and member of an unorthodox border patrol unit called the Shadow Wolves. Joined by Pima County homicide investigator Brian Fellows, they must keep the child safe while tracking down a ruthless killer. In a second case, retired homicide detective Brandon Walker is investigating the long unsolved murder of an Arizona State University coed. Now, after nearly half a century of silence, the one person who can shed light on that terrible incident is willing to talk. Meanwhile, Walker's wife, Diana Ladd, is reliving memories of a man whose death continues to haunt her. As these crimes threaten to tear apart three separate families, the stories and traditions of the Tohono O'odham people remain just beneath the surface of the desert, providing illumination to events of both self-sacrifice and unspeakable evil J.A. Jance is among the bestif not the best. Chattanooga Times In Queen of the Night , New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance brings back the Walker familyintroduced in Hour of the Hunter , terrorized in Kiss of the Bees , and last seen in Day of the Dead . A multilayered thriller, gripping and unforgettableevocatively set in the breathtaking Arizona desert Queen of the Night is a chilling tale of murder past and present that connects and devastates three separate families. The traditions of the Tohono O'odham people are woven into the fabric of three families as Dr. Lani Walker and Pima County homicide investigator Brian Fellows join forces to protect a little girl who witnessed her mother's murder The New York Times bestselling author brings back the Walker family in a multilayered thriller in which murders past and present connect the lives of three families