The Replacement Child, by Christine Barber

So maybe, as other reviewers say, Barber was good with Santa Fe culture and traditions, but her writing was choppy, the flipping from one character to another jarring, the coincidences past belief, the mystery and its solution implausible, and the relationships unsatisfying.  The main character, Lucy Newroe, was particularly unlikable; the police detective, Gil Montoya, a little too perfect; the EMT guy, Gerald Trujillo, a distraction.  I probably shouldn't flat out dismiss it as dreadful because it took me so long to finish.  I felt particularly unhappy with Barber's throwaway line about Lucy's best efforts at describing the Santa Fe light as sounding like a community college English teacher.  Bill Crider can write her under the table.