Against the backdrop of New Mexico’s rugged Sangre de Cristo Mountains, aspiring diva Sylvia mazzoni combines her Santa Fe Opera engagement with a romantic reunion. But she and her lover, attorney Rolf Keller, get more than they bargained for when Rolf runs into archaeologist Charles Slater, a former law school classmate who, when they parted nine years ago, vowed revenge for Rolf’s part in getting him expelled just before graduation.
Rolf wants to make amends, but Slater has other things on his mind: his recent find of priceless Indian artifacts and gold from the 1600s and the ruthless antiquities traffickers who are stalking him. To prove himself to the skeptical Rolf and Sylvia and win their help, Slater invites them to his ranch to see some of the treasure, but when they arrive, he has disappeared—vanished under circumstances that point to a violent abduction.
The unexpected illness of the lead soprano gives Sylvia a chance at the title role in Tosca, but to win over the opera-savvy Santa Fe audience she must learn the production in only three days. While struggling to convert this challenge into the career triumph she has pursued all her life, she and Rolf are threatened by the smugglers who will stop at nothing to uncover Slater’s cache.
Following clues left behind by Slater, Sylvia and Rolf discover a local Native American legend: an intriguing tale of the Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1680 and Teya, a shaman’s young daughter, who played a crucial role in the rebellion against the Spanish oppressors and in concealing the treasure of a lost pueblo.
Now, three centuries later, the paths of Teya, Sylvia and Rolf are about to cross in this riveting historical thriller involving archaeological crime, southwestern history and grand opera.
