Shadow Play is the second book by David Cole that I have read. The other book was Dragonfly Bones. His books are set in Arizona and deal with Navajo and Hopi Indian culture. If you're thinking this sounds like Tony Hillerman's books you're right. Cole even mentions Hillerman's books several times in this book. However, Cole's investigators are not living on the rez as Hillerman's are and therein lies a major difference.

Laura Winslow is a PI who specializes in computer fraud. The case at hand only peripherally deals with computers though and it's not even really a job. Her lover, Nathan Brittles, is Navajo. An old friend, Bob Good Fellow, is a Navajo Tribal Police member and he has just contacted Nathan to tell him that another old friend, Leon Begay, had murdered a girl and then turned the gun on himself. More Begay family members had also turned up dead and skinwalker stories were starting to flourish on the rez. Skinwalkers are ghosts but more than that. Leon was living in Tucson so that's why Bob contacted Nathan. Laura is a trained forensic photographer as well as a computer wizard so Nathan needs her. He is also freaked out by the deaths and what they might mean.

Leon has a brother but he hadn't seen him in years. Vincent changed his name as a teenager and went to Hollywood where he had some good roles in Western films. Now he is front man for a casino in Tucson so Laura goes to see him. She's a little starstruck and isn't prepared for his security manager. He interrogates her and then sticks her in an elevator that goes nowhere. When she finally does get to meet Vincent she is quite struck by him. He's still very handsome but he doesn't seem too concerned about his brother. Mostly he tells her about his plans to remake one of his films but with himself as the star.

I found this story rather disjointed and thought there was too many times that it wasn't clear what Laura's motivations were. Nevertheless I enjoyed it, especially the references to Navajo beliefs. The supernatural is never far from the surface. ( )