At the age of eighty, Melissa Ann Parker was the oldest woman ever to be executed in the state of Texas. Her crime of passion-the murder of her only son, Kendall-was one that she refused to ever explain. She took the reasons for her actions with her into death. During her twenty-year tenure on Death Row, she meets reporter Charlie Dodson, who is sent to interview the oldest person awaiting execution in Texas. Charlie becomes enchanted with this strange, ethereal woman, continuing to visit her until her demise. After her death, he discovers that she has left her considerable estate to him. In order to put her memory to rest, he resolves to uncover the reason for her crime. His efforts lead him down a path of corruption so dark and evil, the worst criminal would have loathing for persons who could involve themselves in such a venture. Charlie's quest for understanding is rich in intrigue, deception, vice, and danger, but he can't step away until he knows why Melissa Ann chose to brutally murder her only son.

Ninety-three-year-old Abigail Buckley, who may or may not be in control of all her faculties, is prepared to reveal the skeletons in the family closet to her great-niece, Dawn, who stands to inherit the family's considerable wealth. After claiming to Dawn she has been living with a curse for years, Abigail can do nothing but anxiously await her niece's arrival.A few days later, Abigail sips her tea as she leads Dawn through four generations of history and parallel universes, revealing the story of how Abigail came to be raised by her father and Concha, a Mexican-American woman harboring a deep secret. As Abigail recalls her coming-of-age journey--during which she achieved academic excellence, rode horses, and witnessed a tragic accident--she lays out decades of family history and secrets, along with the details of the dreaded curse, which Dawn soon learns must be passed down. But it is only when Dawn sets off on an adventure that culminates in a chain of remarkable events on an ancient burial ground that another tier of unbelievable history is added to her unique family.In this supernatural novel inspired by New Mexico folklore, a woman nearing the end of her life leads her beloved niece through the past so that she may embrace the future--and all it encompasses--without her.

Ninety-three-year-old Abigail Buckley, who may or may not be in control of all her faculties, is prepared to reveal the skeletons in the family closet to her great-niece, Dawn, who stands to inherit the family's considerable wealth. After claiming to Dawn she has been living with a curse for years, Abigail can do nothing but anxiously await her niece's arrival.A few days later, Abigail sips her tea as she leads Dawn through four generations of history and parallel universes, revealing the story of how Abigail came to be raised by her father and Concha, a Mexican-American woman harboring a deep secret. As Abigail recalls her coming-of-age journey--during which she achieved academic excellence, rode horses, and witnessed a tragic accident--she lays out decades of family history and secrets, along with the details of the dreaded curse, which Dawn soon learns must be passed down. But it is only when Dawn sets off on an adventure that culminates in a chain of remarkable events on an ancient burial ground that another tier of unbelievable history is added to her unique family.In this supernatural novel inspired by New Mexico folklore, a woman nearing the end of her life leads her beloved niece through the past so that she may embrace the future--and all it encompasses--without her.

At the age of eighty, Melissa Ann Parker was the oldest woman ever to be executed in the state of Texas. Her crime of passion-the murder of her only son, Kendall-was one that she refused to ever explain. She took the reasons for her actions with her into death. During her twenty-year tenure on Death Row, she meets reporter Charlie Dodson, who is sent to interview the oldest person awaiting execution in Texas. Charlie becomes enchanted with this strange, ethereal woman, continuing to visit her until her demise. After her death, he discovers that she has left her considerable estate to him. In order to put her memory to rest, he resolves to uncover the reason for her crime. His efforts lead him down a path of corruption so dark and evil, the worst criminal would have loathing for persons who could involve themselves in such a venture. Charlie's quest for understanding is rich in intrigue, deception, vice, and danger, but he can't step away until he knows why Melissa Ann chose to brutally murder her only son.