Death at Gran Quivera is a prequel novel to a series of short stories (already published in Frontier Tales) about Iragene Jones, a woman sheriff in the fictitious town of La Madera (Mountaineer) in Los Brazos County. The book is essentially a mystery to discover who is committing a series of robberies, threats, and murders. Iragene, a homesteader in central NM, encounters some unknown men who leave a mysterious item in a copse of scrub oak, a bloodied blond scalp. Determined to find out who this unfortunate woman was, Iragene goes off to question her neighbors, only to find that they too have experienced some strange occurrences, some involving strange deaths of cattle, others involving deadly threats. Joining up with a fellow landowner, Alejandro Gallegos, the two bring all the information and evidence they garner to the recalcitrant sheriff who belittles their concerns and carries on with business as usual.Now realizing their community is on its own, Iragene and Alejandro continue their quest to discover who is committing these crimes, and in doing so uncover additional, more horrific crimes, maybe crimes including the sheriff himself.The book climaxes in the magnificent ruins of Gran Quivira in the middle of a frightening deluge of lightening, thunder, rain, and bullets as our heroes face death in their effort to rid the county of this scourge