Durango (CO) Herald, Mike Clark, Freelance Writer, Special to the Herald
Winterton possesses an undeniable gift for plot that carries Whistler's Gold through seemingly unsolvable problems to a gratifying conclusion.
Farmington (NM) Daily Times, Kim Noteboom, Arts and Entertainment Editor
Whistler's Gold is a sure win for readers who like heartwarming stories filled with intrigue and mystery.
Book Description
In 1934, the owner of a trading post murdered a Navajo man. Four customers witnessed the act and chased the killer to the cliffs behind the trading post where he seemingly disappeared before their eyes. When the witnesses went back to cover the body, it had disappeared as well, and neither the killer nor his victim were ever found.
Differences of opinion abound in the community as to why the murder happened and how killer and victim could both disappear within minutes of the deed. In accordance with Navajo tradition, the violent act caused evil spirits to take up residency in the trading post and it was abandoned and left to decay in the harsh New Mexican desert. So it was for forty years.
Surfacing during those forty years is a strange story about the existence of a treasure hidden somewhere on the vast reservation, a cache of gold coins from a pair of fugitive conquistadors who became hopelessly lost in 1598 after deserting Don Juan de Onate's colonization army.
During that same period, Kee Notah and Grace Garretson marry and raise a daughter. Grace, a courier service driver is robbed of artifacts belonging to the Museum of New Mexico, artifacts that represent a piece of the treasure's puzzle already held by a pair of unscrupulous treasure hunters. As the thieves close in on the treasure, an unexpected series of events not only thwarts their efforts, but the mystery of the forty-year-old trading post murder is solved, and with it, a revelation destined to change the personal lives of the Notah family forever.
Differences of opinion abound in the community as to why the murder happened and how killer and victim could both disappear within minutes of the deed. In accordance with Navajo tradition, the violent act caused evil spirits to take up residency in the trading post and it was abandoned and left to decay in the harsh New Mexican desert. So it was for forty years.
Surfacing during those forty years is a strange story about the existence of a treasure hidden somewhere on the vast reservation, a cache of gold coins from a pair of fugitive conquistadors who became hopelessly lost in 1598 after deserting Don Juan de Onate's colonization army.
During that same period, Kee Notah and Grace Garretson marry and raise a daughter. Grace, a courier service driver is robbed of artifacts belonging to the Museum of New Mexico, artifacts that represent a piece of the treasure's puzzle already held by a pair of unscrupulous treasure hunters. As the thieves close in on the treasure, an unexpected series of events not only thwarts their efforts, but the mystery of the forty-year-old trading post murder is solved, and with it, a revelation destined to change the personal lives of the Notah family forever.
About the author
Wayne Winterton began his career as a public school teacher followed by sixteen years experience as a teacher, school principal, and school superintendent with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He has lived and worked on the Navajo Reservation and with New Mexico’s Pueblo Indians. Winterton, who holds a PhD from the University of New Mexico, resides in Glendale, Arizona.
