DEATH OF THE LAST VILLISTA by Allana Martin
A TEXANA JONES MYSTERY
Thomas Dunne, August 2001
In 1961, a movie was shot in far west Texas about a Pancho Villa raid on the U.S. During the filming, one of the film's advisors, a man who had actually ridden with Villa, was killed and his killer was never found. Now, decades later, a film crew is making a documentary about the Villa film--and the long-ago murder becomes very near at hand.
Texana Jones is a shop keeper, neighborhood busy-body, and sometimes amateur crime investigator (see also our review of DEATH OF A MYTHMAKER). When a threatening note arrives at her home and a mobile home explodes, Texana knows that this isn't just the ghost of Pancho Villa--someone real and alive is active and dangerous. Still, the past is dangerous and what Texana learns about her mother startles her--and may uncover a motive pointing at her father as that long-ago killer.
Author Allana Martin does a wonderful job describing both the bleak beauty of the border region of west Texas and also the close-knit community that has evolved there (including people from both sides of the U.S./Mexico border). Her descriptions of the abandoned and nearly killed horses rings true (although I would have liked to see this more tightly integrated into the plot).
DEATH OF TH ELAST VILLISTA is a fine novel and a welcome addition to the Texana Jones family. See more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Allana Martin.
Three Stars
Purchase DEATH OF THE LAST VILLISTA from Amazon.com (hardback).
Rather buy it from Barnes and Noble?
Click this link for
DEATH OF THE LAST VILLISTA from Barnes & Noble.com