The Merchant of Death: A Mayan Mystery

A corpse. A wrongly accused hunter. A crippled painter with an unquenchable thirst for justice. In the year 679 AD, Xhol, a painter, a sculptor…and a cripple, discovers the dead body of a wealthy merchant just returned from a trade expedition to the North. Quickly, Xhol and Thirteen Jaguar, the shrewd high priest, discover that poison has been used. Unwittingly Xhol directs suspicion on an innocent man, One Hunter. He then feels compelled to look for the real killer. Caught in the intrigues plaguing the royal court and sneered at because of his limp, Xhol begins a dangerous quest for truth. When the news come that mighty Tikal is launching a ferocious attack on Dos Pilas, the warriors ready themselves for combat. The lord of Dos Pilas wants to close the case of the murdered merchant and decides that One Hunter will be executed on the morning the army leaves for war. …Unless Xhol unveils the truth in time.