“The Drowning Game,” by Barbara Nickless (Thomas & Mercer)

Award-winning author Barbara Nickless is known for two mystery series, one set in Denver, the other in Chicago. But in her newest thriller “The Drowning Game,” the Colorado Springs author sets her story half a world away, in Singapore.

Sisters Cass and Nadia are heirs to Ocean House, a family-owned yacht-building company with plans to expand into the Asian market. The sisters are unusually close. So when Cass, who is in charge of completing a super yacht in Singapore, falls from a hotel balcony, Nadia rushes to China to bring her sister’s body home to Seattle. The authorities rule suicide, but Nadia knows her sister would never take her life. Nadia concludes Cass was murdered and returns to Singapore to find out what happened..

The death seems to be tied to the Red Dragon, a yacht that Ocean House is building for George Meng, a Chinese billionaire. He’s the inventor of RenA1, an artificial intelligence system that the Chinese government wants to keep out of foreign hands. That’s why Meng and his family are not allowed to leave the country together. Nadia concludes a hidden room was built as a hiding place for Meng’s family to escape from China, and that Cass was involved in the plot.

Cass was involved in other illegal activities. As she investigates, Nadia is drawn into the same dark secrets that led to Cass’s death. The family motto is Don’t Trust Anyone, so Nadia has nowhere to turn. It’s up to her to solve Cass’ murder and to protect Ocean House’s future.

“The Downing Game” is filled with rich scenes of Singapore life, from the haunts of the super-rich to Singapore’s teeming back alleys. Nickless’ research is impeccable, and her twisty thriller is a chilling story of international intrigue and deception.

“Four Corners Voices,” edited by Chuck Greaves, Lisa C. Taylor and Mark Stevens (Four Corners Writers)

There’s much about the Four Corners area to appeal to writers. That’s evident in this first anthology of 12 short stories, 13 essays and 24 poems, all from writers living in the Four Corners area of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. The published works were culled from over 130 entries.

Most of the entries are set in the regional landscape, on ranches or mountains or high desert. They show an understanding of the land and its beauty but also its hardships and loneliness.

Among the best stories is “Lay-bye Lullabye” by Katayoun Medhat. This is a tersely written tale of a man who goes out for pizza but instead, turns down a deserted old road. He hasn’t been there in years, and that last trip was a sinister one. He shows no remorse but curiosity as he wonders what-if. The man’s casual reaction is chilling.

“The Joyous Cries of Children Playing,” by retired Utah state archaeologist Kevin T. Jones, is one of the best essays. Jones writes about leaving Salt Lake for a remote off-the-grid house in Montezuma County, Colo. He and his wife aren’t living in a human vacuum, he writes. “No … we have made many friends, and we embrace the rural ethic of always looking out for others.” There is evidence on the land of ancient Indian culture. “We are part of a tradition, an ongoing human threat, from the distant past to the infinite future,” he adds. “We are not alone.”

“Corn Dance,” by Loretta Barrett Oden with Beth Dooley (University of Oklahoma)

In 1993, Loretta Barrett Oden, a Potawatomi Indian, and her son opened Corn Dance, a restaurant in Santa Fe. Unlike other Santa Fe restaurants with their Mexican and Southwest Indian foods, Corn Dance featured Indigenous foods from tribes all across the Americas.

Beautifully illustrated, the cookbook that rose out of the restaurant as well as Oden’s years of cooking and research into Native foods is a feast for the eye as well as the taste buds. Her recipes range from sage-infused popcorn to blue-corn shortcakes, from bison chili to smoked oyster cakes, and from three-sisters (corn, squash and beans) salad to Mexican hot chocolate. Most of the dishes were once Indigenous staples, but to many Americans now seem like gourmet foods.

Sandra Dallas is a Denver author and book reviewer.