A cold case turns hot for a newbie FBI agent when she runs afoul of the military while chasing clues to a murder and a long-lost treasure.

Corrie Swanson is bitterly sure that her pitiful assignment in nowhere New Mexico is a punishment for her ineptitude on her last case. Now, she is stuck with cowboy Sheriff Watts trying to figure out what a treasure hunter was doing searching the remote High Lonesome ghost town. Corrie calls in a favor from archaeologist Nora Kelly and together they discover a corpse—one that clearly died a gruesome death—and a priceless Spanish gold cross. Corrie, Watts, and Nora follow rumors of a golden fortune and uncover a decades-old military conspiracy at the nearby White Sands Missile Range.

I was poised to be super-enthusiastic about this read because I have enjoyed many (most) of Preston and Childs’ other titles; but the book fell a little flat. Here are the pros: The story is satisfying. It is a slower build, but the pacing is solid, and the tension increases nicely as our heroes get closer to solving the mystery. The authors successfully weave together fascinating historical elements from the atomic era and early Native American history. There are some fun shootouts. The desert southwest landscape is beautifully realized. I have been to several of the locations depicted in the book, and Preston & Child so exquisitely capture the colors and silence and sheer vastness of the high desert that I felt transported back, which was a lovely gift.

Now the cons. Characterization is thin. Corrie is the most well-rounded of the group, but she is so rules-based she is not easy to empathize with. The few flashbacks to Corrie’s abusive childhood do not go far enough to flesh out her character. She and Nora both struggle in typical “male” or “moneyed” professions, respectively, and their ultimate successes are empowering, but do not add the needed depth to their personalities. The rest of the cast is largely one-dimensional. The book is so plot-driven, I felt like I was missing entire scenes that would have helped me care more about these people. Early on, for instance, Watts suggests he and Corrie have lunch. Great! I expected a short sequence in a café to get some character background…Nada.

All that said, devotees of Preston and Child and all of us action, thriller, suspense, and historical fiction fans will have most of our boxes checked. Plus, Agent Pendergast makes a brief, deus-ex-machina cameo: enjoyable, if a little contrived. The Scorpion’s Tail is a quick, solid read, but does not rank among my favorites from the extensive offerings of Preston & Child.