I grew up in Albuquerque and went to the University of New Mexico. My husband's Journalism professor was Tony Hillerman, who later became a best selling author of the Chee and Leaphorn mystery books. My husband introduced Tony to me at a restaurant in Albuquerque. When the Southwest Writer's Conference was a big event a decade or so ago, Tony used to attend the Saturday night dinners. Before he died, Tony was kind enough to read an early draft of my book and give me a blurb. We will all miss Tony. He was a fantastic human being and a great man. Below is the blurb.

“The information archaeologists, anthropologists and cultural historians collect in their work usually collects dust in library basements of universities and emerges, if at all, only in reports in academic prose as dry as the dust on the file folder. In her novel, RETURN OF THE BONES, Belinda Vasquez Garcia takes scientific facts that lie dormant in these files and gives us a fascinating, very readable real account of the death of the people who once lived in the long ruined Pecos Pueblo, of the search for their bones, and the remarkable amount of information medical sciences has collected from them. With this scientific information Ms. Garcia mixes lively accounts of the Indian Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which drove the Spanish out of Pueblo territory and the Spanish “Reconquest” which led to the demise of the Pecos people. The book casts light on important chapters in our past of which too many Americans are totally ignorant.” Tony Hillerman, Winner of the Edgar Award, Grand Master Award, and Nero Award