On a skiing expedition with his girlfriend Claire’s ten-year-old son, Howard stumbles across a man who has been shot. He recognizes him as a vagrant who calls himself the Rainbow Man. The last words the Rainbow Man utters before he dies are "Red Moon" which, at the time, means nothing to Howard.

What Howard does realize is that the Rainbow Man is the man who has been watching Claire for several days, and the man who dropped a gun in her office. The gun is traced to a break-in murder that took place over twenty-five years ago, during which a Georgia O’Keefe painting, called Red Moon, was stolen, and has never been recovered. Howard is now faced with trying to sort out the various pieces, and determining what the Rainbow Man, a twenty-five year old murder, and a missing Georgia O’Keefe painting have in common, as well as what secrets the mute Rainbow Man kept hidden that someone would kill for.

Intertwined in these murky mysteries is Howard and Claire’s relationship. They have been together for about a year and have Claire’s two children living with them, something that is easily forgotten. Claire is very shallow and self-centered, allowing the eight and ten year old to sleep in a trailer alone, while she and Howard spend their nights camped out in a tipi, a childhood fantasy of hers.

Claire is a cellist, apparently of professional ability, and is being asked to return to her native Chicago to join a string quartet, the Chicago Chick Quartet. While Claire considers moving back and joining the group, she gives little thought to the effects this move will have on her children, mostly she thinks about what life will be like without sex with Howie.

The New Mexico setting is not used to its full advantage in this outing, possibly due to the early snow, something generally not associated with New Mexico weather. At first, the Rainbow Man is the most sympathetic character, something that quickly dissipates as his past is revealed.

Diehard fans of Southwestern and/or Native American mysteries will want to read this latest Howard Moon Deer mystery, but those with a passing or budding interest in this genre would do better elsewhere.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry