Return of the Swallows

Once more Tamar Saticoy, as archaeological consultant for Interpol, is mired in the devious world of the antiquities trade, this time in Thailand and California.

When Tamar finds a body buried under a burnt mud-brick wall at the San Juan Capistrano Mission, the head of the Juaneno tribe of Native Americans associated with the mission insists on claiming the body for reburial, threatening reprisals if it is not turned over to him. Tamar discovers that the body is that of a modern murder victim, a man, probably from somewhere in southeast Asia, and not a Native American.

Meanwhile, someone is pillaging archaeological sites on the Khorat Plateau in Northeast Thailand and the contraband—some of it bracelets still wrapped around bones from looted burials—shows up stored in shoe boxes at the Orange County Museum, Casa Del Sol. The curator and director of Casa del Sol ask Tamar to help work on the artifacts.

Tamar suspects that the murder at the mission and the looting of the Thai sites are connected. Interpol sends her as an undercover agent to Thailand to investigate who is looting the sites. She is plunged into the deceit and danger of the antiquities trade, and her own life is threatened.