Rio Grande Fall

A New Mexico PI tries to stop a cult leader's murderous rampage in "a fascinating hybrid of detective story, adventure yarn, and shamanistic magic." - Kirkus Reviews
The world-famous International Balloon Fiesta of Albuquerque is one of the city's most eagerly anticipated annual events and its biggest moneymaker. But when a woman plunges to her death from one of the balloons-foreshadowed by Sonny Baca's vision of a body plummeting from the sky-Sonny's sure it's murder.
The dead woman was the chief witness to testify against the cult implicated in the murder-for-hire of Sonny's cousin Gloria, whose death still haunts him. In addition to motive, Sonny finds means and opportunity: a homeless family who saw someone push Veronica Worthy out of the hot-air balloon. Worthy was one of the four wives of Raven, leader of the sun cult, and a dangerous, shamanlike criminal who's supposed to be dead. But the four black feathers found on the corpse are his calling card-clues to let Sonny know he's alive and kicking. And his murder spree isn't over. Now, led by his spirit guides, Sonny must race to stop a vengeful madman and save the woman he loves.
From the American Book Award-winning author, this is "a completely entertaining mystery novel [that] offers two parallel lands of enchantment" ( Booklist).