A quick-to-read enjoyable mystery set in the Santa Fe area. It features Jemimah Hodge, a forensic psychologist, and Rick Romero, sherrif's deputy. Two similar murders without much to go on are stumping the sherrif's department. Some red herrings include a native archeological site on private land and a treasure hunt. The main characters were likeable (but could have used more depth) and the conclusion satisfying.

I did have a few issues. I found the timeline confusing, and it wasn't really clear to me what Jemimah's role was, aside from helping the police. There were also some confusing sentences and some improper word use, and my copy of the ebook had chapter 8 (of 65) at the end of the book.

I wanted to like this book, but couldn't. It was just too improbable and the killer came out of nowhere. I wouldn't recommend it. ( )

This is a nice little mystery for a summer read. It seems highly improbable but, in a case of the truth is stranger than fiction, there really is a buried treasure out there waiting for someone to follow the clues and find it. A friend of the author's, a restaurant owner wrote a memoir called The Thrill of the Chase in which there are subtle clues to a million dollar treasure he would hide. His name is Forrest Fenn.

Hence this Jemimah Hodge mystery, the plot of which centers around a buried treasure and clues in a book written by one of the men who hid it. This spurs all kinds of interest by countless people, some of whom actually go out searching for the treasure but in all the wrong places.

Greed, of course, leads to murder. Jem Hodge is a forensic psychologist and her new boyfriend is Sheriff's Deputy Rick Romero. Both are very likable, smart detectives but they have two murders to solve and both have them stumped. One of the victims is a homeless prostitute, but the other lives in a higher station in life. It's this second victim that gives me pause. I found that character's life and death a little beyond my powers of belief.

Regardless, I thought what the heck, it's summer and this is a fun premise, so I'll just go along with the flow. Sometimes I think I'm looking for too much veracity in a simple novel. Once I stopped nit-picking, I enjoyed the book. There is a lot of description of western scenery and a little about Indian ruins that piqued my interest. I'm always looking for someone to fill the enormous shoes of Tony Hillerman. This isn't it; I don't think anyone can replace Hillerman, but still this is set in New Mexico and there are Indian artifacts involved.

Recommended
Source: Partners in Crime Book Tour ( )

Treasure Among the Shadows has a lot of interesting things going for it. I liked the two friends, the real treasure of the archeological dig and the way it was treated, the murder(s) mystery and the involvement of Gilda as the Chief Archeologist of Historical Preservation. I love Santa Fe and the area. The plots were good and moved along pretty well. What really disappointed me was the stilted, trite dialog. The interaction between the two friends and their planned treasure hunt was pretty well glossed over and barely skimmed the surface. Other than the dialog, I like the book and will probably look up another by Marie Romero Cash to try again. ( )

I was kind of hoping that there would be more about the treasure hunt. Turns out the murders were just about ambition and sex. I think it would have been more interesting to have the murders actually be connected to the treasure. Even so, I liked the characters enough to go back and read the first two books in the series. ( )