Death of a Healing Woman by Allana Martin

DEATH OF A HEALING WOMAN by Allana Martin is a mystery story featuring Texana Jones which was originally published in the early 1990s. Martin, a native Texan and rancher, clearly loves the area and its people. Texana runs a trading post near the US-Mexico border in rural Presidio County. One day, while delivering supplies, she finds the body of a curandera, an older healing woman, named Rhea Fair. The novel continues as Texana attempts to find a murderer – she travels as far as San Antonio and back and forth across the border while also supporting her husband, the local vet, in combatting a rabies outbreak. I truly enjoyed the multifaceted mystery and its many references to culture, food, celebrations, and language. I would like to read more in this series, but they are hard to find since it's been about 30 years since they were published. That time difference is reflected also in the attitudes about border crossings and towards community members, perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the book from my point of view.