John Cotton, a reporter, finds his best friend dead on the floor of the capitol rotunda . . . and stumbles onto a scandal that reaches to the highest levels of the state government. His reporter's instincts and determination to find justice for his friend drive him to investigate, but they may cost him his life.

Hillerman's second novel, and (as far as I know) the only one set outside the Navajo reservation. It's well-plotted and engrossing, but I missed the richness of the cultural and geographic background in his Navajo stories.