A Murder in Old Town - Kay Cordtz

Fortuna is a tall, elegant grandmother from Northern New Mexico who is living on the streets of Albuquerque after fleeing her abusive husband. She witnesses the aftermath of a crime and is entangled in the lives of the criminal and others who become connected to him. These include Gus, a young man determined to leave his troubled past behind for the love of a damaged girl; Rod, an aging rake who mistakenly believes that Albuquerque will be a soft place to fall; and Juan, a promising young man on the rise whose bad choice of companions traps him in a criminal enterprise. The story unfolds in and around Old Town Albuquerque and was inspired by actual events there. The fates of the characters-who lives, who dies, and which lives are changed forever-unspool over a period of a few summer days.