His Dead Mother's Ashes

After Nick's ninety-year-old mother passes quietly from a stroke, he inherits five acres and three homes outside Santa Fe without a clue as to what to do next. An old girlfriend from Colorado shows up to help him sort through closets and his life and figure out what to do next. Nick's infatuation with her escalates when she meets a handsome Mexican artist who has taken up residence in Santa Fe. Nick's past, which includes a murder that he might have been responsible for when he lived in Mexico but doesn't remember, as well as the case of one Jane Doe who was found in an alley after Nick spent a weekend in New Orleans, quickly catches up with him when the artist senses his new girlfriend may be in danger.

-- Kimberly Larsen