With the help of her mentor Magda, artifacts blackmarketer Faye Longchamp has gone legit. She's attending grad school and has an exciting assignment as chief archaeologist on a project investigating the Sujosas, an isolated ethnic group who seem to have a genetic immunity to AIDS. Then she arrives to find the project under the direction of a power-tripping professor of surprising incompetence, given his reputation, while hostility from the Sujosas ranges from stonewalling into actual threats. Or has it gone even further? When a co-worker dies in a fire that Faye barely survives herself, everyone assumes it's a common kerosene heater accident. Everyone except Faye, that is. The same curiosity that makes her so good at unraveling the past won't let her leave the mysteries of the present alone, despite threats and warnings. And there are secrets in plenty, not just a mysterious death or two.

      This is actually the sort of book for which an overview of the plot doesn't do it justice. Oh it has a genuinely complex and enjoyable story, with a number of varied subplots to keep things interesting. And the author does a fine job of pacing and tying it all together at the end. But what really captures you is the richness of the storytelling and the excellence of the writing in presenting the people and setting that make up the author's world. It makes me sorry for people who'll never read it because they think of it as "just a mystery" and they don't read genre fiction. This isn't "just" anything. It's a thoroughly enjoyable story about people and places and consequences in a world you inhabit as much as read, experiencing the events with everyone else. Highly recommended.