The Replacement Child

A newspaper editor and a police detective investigate two seemingly unrelated Santa Fe murders in this mystery debut—Winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize.

"The Replacement Child has many charms: It's a riveting procedural, a compassionate and perceptive study of human nature, and a wonderfully labyrinthine whodunit." —William Kent Krueger, author of Thunder Bay

Late one night, Capital Tribune editor Lucy Newroe receives a tip from Scanner Lady, an anonymous reader who frequently calls with police scanner tidbits. When Lucy checks out the tip, she discovers Scanner Lady has been killed. That same night, the body of a seventh-grade teacher, Melissa Baca, is found at the bottom of a local bridge. As Lucy and police detective Gil Montoya hunt down the culprits in each murder, they discover their cases are intertwined in the most intimate ways.

Christine Barber, the first winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize, received overwhelming praise for her remarkable debut, which was named a New York Times Notable Book. Rich with details of New Mexico and the people who live there, The Replacement Child is the perfect novel for anyone who has fallen in love with the Southwest, and marks the emergence of a promising new writer.

"Christine Barber is new to the Southwest in the sense that The Replacement Child is her first novel. But she has a great feel for the territory and for the family connections that enforce its strong community bonds." —The New York Times Book Review

"Provides detours into the rich Hispanic traditions, the geography, the architecture, and vagaries of life in present-day Santa Fe. . . . I think this pleasurable novel will endure as a far more insightful tour guide than any document printed for that purpose." —Albuquerque Journal

"Smart, taut, psychologically convincing. Christine Barber has a sure hand with character and a strong sense of place." —Susan Wittig Albert, author of Nightshade