On the eve of his recall vote, Aspen Sheriff Kurt Muller is summoned to the home of an old acquaintance, the beautiful, reclusive heiress Nicole Bauer. Someone, she says, is sending her hate mail and threatening to kill her. She's convinced it's her old lover, the 60s blues idol Rocky Rhodes, but Kurt is wary, for good reason: Twenty years earlier, Rocky's body was found on the grounds of Nicole's mansion, and Nicole herself was charged with his murder.

But Kurt's doubts are shaken when Nicole is found dead the next morning, only hours after he left her. Against his deputy's advice, he pursues his own investigation, which leads him back to the decadent counterculture of the 70s, and reveals the shaded pasts of his contemporaries--the doctors, lawyers, land barons, and aspiring politicians of Aspen's social elite. Kurt soon uncovers a host of high-placed suspects, each with deeply buried secrets that Nicole alone had the power to expose. Frustrated at every turn, he realizes that the truth may lie with an elusive former groupie nicknamed Pariah, a witness to Rocky's death, and Kurt's last hope in solving the mystery of Nicole's final hours.

Dark, evocative, and suspenseful, Pariah puts Zigal's rich cast of ex-hippies, Aspen jet-setters, and militant activists face-to-face with the broken ideals of the past, in a tightly woven, electric thriller set against the sweeping background of the Rocky Mountains.

Praise for Hardrock Stiff:

"Terrific . . . Throughout this strong, sad, constantly involving story, Zigal renders the deep bond between people and the land with a blend of complexity and conflict that enriches the genre."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A resolute, tough, yet compassionate hero . . . a strong sense of place; and a cast of quirky characters . . . Hardrock Stiff has everything mystery fans want."
--Booklist

"A deftly plotted mystery . . . intricate and ingenious . . . Zigal tells a provocative and compelling story."
--Dallas Morning News

"Another fine whodunit . . . the explosive action provides plenty of thrills, and Muller stands out as a compelling new centurion."
--Chicago Tribune

Thomas Zigal is the author of Hardrock Stiff and Into Thin Air. He lives with his wife and son in Austin, Texas.