Books by Virgil Alexander
The books are available in print and e-book and may be purchased through your local booksellers, which I encourage to support your community. If they don't have it stocked they can order it for you.
Click a book title to buy the book online.
Broken Earth
First Edition. Published October 6, 2021 by Aakenbaaken & Kent. San Carlos Apache Tribal Police Sergeant Al Victor has to walk a thin line between protecting traditional Apache culture and enforcing criminal law as he tracks a medicine man gone-bad onto sacred ground. Manny Sanchez comes ambushed by a drug smuggler. Bren Allred hunts for the missing Miss Graham County, and in the process delivers a teenage boy from miscarried justice. Deputy Patricia Haley suspects a teenager is caught in sexual slavery, and she and Andy Lopez move their relationship to the next level. Allred and Victor have conflicting priorities on their cases and work to resolve their issues. A strong Navajo female FBI agent from the Missing Indigenous Women Taskforce, works to protect native women sometimes in spite of old school agents. The story includes interesting old and new characters, a closer look at traditional Apache values and practices, and the beautiful but difficult wilderness in the Apache upland. All this in a background of day-to-day law enforcement concerns, missing persons, and murder. |
Murder in Copper
First Edition. Published January 2019, by Aakenbaaken & Kent. Theft. Espionage. Murder. Revenge. Apache Policeman Victor joins Deputies Allred and Sanchez in Murder in Copper, a new murder mystery by author Virgil Alexander. The book is set at fictional new copper mines in Miami and the Gila Mountains of Eastern Arizona. The story includes the cultural and natural history of the real settings, as well as local mining and ranch history. It includes an undercover investigation of copper theft, industrial espionage, murder by a diplomat, and a criminal revenge plot against Allred’s family. Sheriff Bitters and Deputy Patricia Haley are also prominent in the story. Scenes take place in Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson, the East Valley, and Silver City, New Mexico in addition to the principle locals. The story includes familiar characters from the earlier books, and introduces a complete set of new people, some of whom will likely make appearances in future stories. Side plots involve government employees getting the job done in spite bureaucratic posturing, the impact of alcohol on the reservation and in rural towns, personal ethics and great temptation, and peeks at foreign relations in former Soviet Block countries. A fast paced, multifaceted mystery filled with interesting and relatable characters.
First Edition. Published January 2019, by Aakenbaaken & Kent. Theft. Espionage. Murder. Revenge. Apache Policeman Victor joins Deputies Allred and Sanchez in Murder in Copper, a new murder mystery by author Virgil Alexander. The book is set at fictional new copper mines in Miami and the Gila Mountains of Eastern Arizona. The story includes the cultural and natural history of the real settings, as well as local mining and ranch history. It includes an undercover investigation of copper theft, industrial espionage, murder by a diplomat, and a criminal revenge plot against Allred’s family. Sheriff Bitters and Deputy Patricia Haley are also prominent in the story. Scenes take place in Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson, the East Valley, and Silver City, New Mexico in addition to the principle locals. The story includes familiar characters from the earlier books, and introduces a complete set of new people, some of whom will likely make appearances in future stories. Side plots involve government employees getting the job done in spite bureaucratic posturing, the impact of alcohol on the reservation and in rural towns, personal ethics and great temptation, and peeks at foreign relations in former Soviet Block countries. A fast paced, multifaceted mystery filled with interesting and relatable characters.
The Baleful Owl
Second Edition Published July 2018, by Aakenbaaken & Kent. The ancient Salado Puebloan people had hoped that the gift of turquoise eyes would cause the owl to carry their pleas for water and for protection from the new enemy people who were invading their mountain home, but it was not to be. They were driven from their home of 1000 years and disappeared into the river people. Seven hundred years later the baleful owl would, by the hands of a greedy artifact thief, cause the murder of an archaeology student, and the attempted murder of his associate, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. The Pinal County Sheriff requests the assistance of Sergeant Al Victor of the Apache Tribal Police in the investigation. Bren Allred of the Graham County Sheriff's office is drawn into the investigation as a member of the State Wide Antiquities Task Force, bringing deputy Manny Sanchez with him. Before the case is resolved a second murder in New Mexico, the involvement of a most respected international antiquities dealer, and the attempted murder of Manny Sanchez will have to be dealt with, in addition to the normal demands of their own patrol areas. From the crime scene in upper Queen Creek Canyon in the northwestern Pinal Mountains, and their jurisdictions in the Gila Valley, the investigation takes them to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, and the Arizona State Museum in Tucson.
Second Edition Published July 2018, by Aakenbaaken & Kent. The ancient Salado Puebloan people had hoped that the gift of turquoise eyes would cause the owl to carry their pleas for water and for protection from the new enemy people who were invading their mountain home, but it was not to be. They were driven from their home of 1000 years and disappeared into the river people. Seven hundred years later the baleful owl would, by the hands of a greedy artifact thief, cause the murder of an archaeology student, and the attempted murder of his associate, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. The Pinal County Sheriff requests the assistance of Sergeant Al Victor of the Apache Tribal Police in the investigation. Bren Allred of the Graham County Sheriff's office is drawn into the investigation as a member of the State Wide Antiquities Task Force, bringing deputy Manny Sanchez with him. Before the case is resolved a second murder in New Mexico, the involvement of a most respected international antiquities dealer, and the attempted murder of Manny Sanchez will have to be dealt with, in addition to the normal demands of their own patrol areas. From the crime scene in upper Queen Creek Canyon in the northwestern Pinal Mountains, and their jurisdictions in the Gila Valley, the investigation takes them to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, and the Arizona State Museum in Tucson.
Saints & SinnersStatus: Released May 1, 2014, by Oak Tree Press.
A lovely and musically gifted teenage girl in a small village of Northern Sonora, Mexico begins to sing in services at the small village church. Her singing is marvelous and moves those who hear her to make changes for the good. It becomes a problem for a drug cartel when their growers plow under or burn their crops, policemen on the take turn against them, smugglers stop smuggling, and dealers stop dealing. A hit order is issued on the girl that the people are now calling Santa Mariana. To save her life Mariana is secretly smuggled into Arizona where protecting her soon involves Deputies Bren Allred and Manny Sanchez, and Apache Tribal Policeman Al Victor. The dark world of the cartels pits the saintly teen and her protectors against the brutality of the smugglers and "soldiers" bent on silencing her forever. The story takes place in Mexico, Arizona, and Spain as international law enforcement moves to end the reign of the vicious drug lord. |
The Wham CurseSecond Edition. Historic/Contemporary Western Mystery by Virgil Alexander. The 1889 ambush and robbery of US Army Paymaster Major Wham in Arizona Territory was never solved. The payroll in gold and silver coin was never recovered and seemingly was never spent. This story presents the history of the robbery, and the effect it has in modern-day Graham County Arizona. San Carlos Apache Tribal Policeman Al Victor, and graham County Deputies Brenden Allred and Manny Sanchez struggle to solve the senseless murder of a young Apache. A gripping story, strong characters, a powerful sense of place and history, and interaction of Apache, Anglo, Hispanic, Mormon, Catholic, ranchers, politicians, environmentalists weave an enjoyable tale.
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Miami - A History of Miami Area, Arizona, Second Edition
Second Edition, Published November 2018 by Aakenbaaken & Kent, Edited and Contributed by Lee Ann Powers & Virgil Alexander. Wilma Gray Sain's master's thesis at the University of Arizona was condensed into a center-stapled booklet in the 1980's by Dr. Wilbur A. Haak with Miss Sain's approval for the Gila County Historical Society. The second edition was created with Dr. Haak's approval after he gave the publishing rights to the Bullion Plaza Museum and Cultural Center in Miami, Arizona. Mrs. Powers, an employee of the Museum, and Mr. Alexander a writer and history consultant, doubled the physical dimensions of the book to enhance viewing the the photographs and illustrations. Where possible they reproduced the photos in the original book from the source photo improving the resolution and increasing the size. They also located other period photos and almost doubled the number printed in the second edition. Miss Sain had the good fortune of having access most of the founders and early pioneers of Miami, thus gathering history that would have been lost within a decade. The book contains history of mining, businesses, and the development of the town, but it also contains many details on both the movers and shakers, and the ordinary citizens of the copper boom town. 9" x 11.5" Hardbound, 70 pages. 100% of proceeds go to the Bullion Plaza Museum and Cultural Center. |
Not yet published Ranching In The Heart of Arizona - The History of Ranching In Gila County
Status: Due to the unexpected high number of ranches and the amount of information accumulated to date, this story will have to be written in two or more volumes. There are several ranches that I now have the complete history, so think I have enough of these to compile the first volume. I am attempting, as I can around my commitments for my published mysteries and future mysteries, to get the first volume compiled by the end of the some year and send submittal queries to publishers.
The area that now comprises Gila County was one of the last parts of Arizona to be settled, primarily due to the fact that it was the stronghold of the Western bands of Apache. The previous claimants, the Spaniards and Mexicans, called the region Apaceria, and because of the Apache they stayed clear of the area. With the Mexican Cession as part of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Apacheria became United States Territory. Beyond military expeditions and a few heavily armed civilian mineral expeditions the Americans also avoided this new possession until the early 1870's when the first daring miners and perhaps more daring ranchers began to settle the rugged mountains and basins, while still fighting the Apache.
The story of these ranchers is a microcosm of the American westward settlement, with all the daring, hardship, tragedy, human drama, and triumph most think only happened in western fiction. Many of the stories have never been reported in print until recorded for this history. It's exciting to see this volume nearing fruition. I will update this as progress is made.
The area that now comprises Gila County was one of the last parts of Arizona to be settled, primarily due to the fact that it was the stronghold of the Western bands of Apache. The previous claimants, the Spaniards and Mexicans, called the region Apaceria, and because of the Apache they stayed clear of the area. With the Mexican Cession as part of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Apacheria became United States Territory. Beyond military expeditions and a few heavily armed civilian mineral expeditions the Americans also avoided this new possession until the early 1870's when the first daring miners and perhaps more daring ranchers began to settle the rugged mountains and basins, while still fighting the Apache.
The story of these ranchers is a microcosm of the American westward settlement, with all the daring, hardship, tragedy, human drama, and triumph most think only happened in western fiction. Many of the stories have never been reported in print until recorded for this history. It's exciting to see this volume nearing fruition. I will update this as progress is made.