Named after a Mormon saint, Moroni Traveler may be Salt Lake
City’s only gentile private eye that still maintains uneasy contact with the
Church of Latter-day Saints. This case finds the former pro football player
reluctantly accepting a charge from one of the church leaders to investigate
the enigmatic, self-effacing faith healer Jason Thurgood.
Traveler’s commission takes him downwind of the old atomic
testing sites to the desolate southwest corner of Utah, commonly known as cult
country because of the long-standing activity of various polygamists and
self-proclaimed prophets there. Currently the area is under the sway of
Moroni’s Children, a cult headed by the ruthless, power-hungry Orrin Porter. At
the same time, Moroni’s father and partner, Martin, is working on a missing
persons case involving the young mentally handicapped son of an old friend
just across the border in Nevada. Oddly, the two cases begin to converge, and
the Travelers realize that the superficial answers they seek mask darker, more
complex forces at work.
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“The eighth Traveler mystery is one of
the best. It’s carefully plotted, there’s a touching romantic tryst for
Traveler, and father Martin provides some much-needed, wisecracking humor. A
nice change of pace from the typical urban private eye.”
—
Booklist