The Hanged Man

Thirteen prominent members of Santa Fe’s New Age spiritualism community attended a meeting at the home of a couple of enthusiastic devotees. Only twelve of them survived it.

Private investigator Joshua Croft prides himself on his even-handed, eminently rational approach to crime solving. So he feels like a fish out of water surrounded by a motley group of true believers in the wacky and weird. But someone in this bizarre crowd murdered self-styled magic-doer Quentin Bouvier, hanging him from the ceiling rafters with a scarf belonging to Tarot card reader Giacamo Bernardi. And Bernardi’s attorney wants Croft to bring the real killer to justice.

Perhaps Bouvier’s slaying had something to do with a very rare and expensive antique Tarot card that the hanged man recently purchased, which is now—unsurprisingly—missing. However, getting down-to-earth answers from people who occupy a different reality won’t be easy. But when more New Agers suddenly depart this mortal plane, Croft needs to up the ante to catch a killer who’s not playing with a full deck.