The first victim rolls out of a rain barrel.
Soon, Cici Gurule dreams of other women's attacks, thanks to visions from her dead twin. The victims' watery graves torment Cici, feeding her growing fear of water.
The killer targets Cici's congregants and friends, taunting her and her lover, Detective Sam Chastain. Sam partners with the SFPD to investigate the widening web of assault, death, and pain... all while Cici struggles with the choices she made in Chaco Canyon.
When the killer lures a teen girl from her family, Cici and Sam's desperation to identify him becomes critical. But the clues, from the disappearance of Sam's ex-lover, to a cat with a chilling message for Cici, are leading them further from the truth, rather than toward saving the kidnapped girl.
★ WHY READERS CAN'T PUT DOWN THE REV. CICI GURULE'S MYSTERIES★
"The prose is...sublimely concise. An exhilarating entry in a thoroughly enjoyable series." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Written in a clear, distinct style, Padgett (J. J. Cagney) uses the prose to elicit tension and emotion and creates a tense, fast-paced story. -- The BookLife Prize
"An exciting mix of murder, mayhem and romance featuring a heroine who is one tough cookie in a book that packs a powerful punch–emotionally and action-wise–right through to the climactic ending."- IndieReader
"Vivid, alluring, and heart-wrenching, Alexa Padgett's A Pilgrimage to Death is every reason I love mystery. A breathtaking tale." - Darynda Jones, New York Times Bestselling Author
"You're not going to find this kind of absorbing, engaging, enticing suspense anywhere else, so grab this one today!" - BookAddict
J. J. Cagney is the mystery/thriller pen name of USA Today bestselling author Alexa Padgett. Her debut mystery, A Pilgrimage of Death, was named to Kirkus Reviews’ 100 Best Books of 2018, 2019 National Indie Excellence Awards winner, and Goodreads Best Mysteries of the 2010s.
Cagney holds a bachelor’s in international marketing and spent part of her twenties as the marketing director for an elite sports management firm. And, yes, she did her requisite stint with a dotcom back in the early 2000s, first as a marketing coordinator and then as a content manager. She’s penned work for a variety of websites and magazines, and she worked as a literary agent for Irene Webb Literary.
She lives in northern New Mexico with her husband, children, about a million fish, and their Great Pyrenees, Ash. Kirkus Reviews called Cagney’s An Artifact of Death, “An exhilarating entry in a thoroughly enjoyable series.”