The Spirit and the Skull

“In this entertaining and unusual mystery, J.M. Hayes gives us a fascinating protagonist who solves the crime without DNA testing, fingerprint technology, a gun or even a notebook! The Spirit and the Skull hits a home run with an interesting cast of would-be villains and a setting that tweaks the imagination. Prehistory was never more interesting, or sexier!” – Anne Hillerman, author of The Spiderwoman’s Daughter
Dealing with themes of primitive religion, social relationships, and even women’s rights, this fascinating tale, which adroitly straddles both mystery and fantasy genres, will attract readers from both camps. * Booklist, starred review *
The Earth Mother commands a Paleolithic Spirit Man to solve a murder.Raven, a Spirit Man who doubts the existence of spirits, has never been sure of his worth in the role, but at his advanced age, he’s acquired enough wisdom to put on a good show. His small tribe is part of The People, who are migrating across the far north of Alaska, following the vast herds of animals that provide for most of their needs. When Tall Pine, one of the tribe’s leaders, is found garroted, Raven realizes the killer must be one of their own band. That night, he dreams his skull is in a strange hut, being held in the hands of a strange man; Raven can understand him when he speaks. When another member of the tribe is killed and a third wounded on a hunting trip, the Earth Mother who shares a body with Raven’s wife, Willow, who he thought had drowned many years earlier, tells Raven that he must solve the murders. After Raven runs away with Down, the clever daughter of Stone, the tribal head who dislikes Raven but fears his power, the Mother convinces the members of the tribe, who have been hunting the pair, that they will not be healed unless Raven solves the crimes. Meanwhile, Raven continues to have painfully prophetic dreams revealing the horrors that will be wrought on his land by oil exploration in the centuries to come. It’s hard for a nonbeliever like Raven to be both a detective and a Spirit Man, reconciling the past and trying to change the future to please a goddess he isn’t sure exists.Hayes, best known for his Mad Dog & Englishman series (English Lessons, 2011, etc.), draws on his expertise in archaeology and anthropology in this stand-alone. The mystery is slight, but the portrait of tribal life and the lyrical descriptions of an untouched land are worth the read. * Kirkus Reviews *
“J.M. Hayes’s THE SPIRIT AND THE SKULL is a tour de force.A hallmark of a truly fine writer is the ability to draw you into a world you do not want to leave, and J. M. Hayes accomplishes this in spades. I was completely drawn in. When I wasn’t reading THE SPIRIT AND THE SKULL, I was thinking about it.Original, thought-provoking, and riveting, THE SPIRIT AND THE SKULL is much more than a whodunnit by one of my favorite mystery writers. I loved it!” – J Carson Black, New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of THE SURVIVORS CLUB

J.M. “Mike” Hayes was born in Kansas. He was a graduate student studying archaeology at Wichita State University when he joined the National Science Foundation project that inspired The Spirit and the Skull. He lives in Arizona now, and has written seven other books-the six Mad Dog & Englishman Mysteries and The Grey Pilgrim.www.jmhayes-author.com

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