A perfect summer weekend read has arrived in bookstores and libraries this week: popular mystery writer J. A. Jance’s “Queen of the Night,” set in Tucson and its surrounding desert, including the Tohono O’oodham Nation, where the one -night-a year blooming of the fragrant night-blooming cereus is celebrated.

Unhappily, one couple’s celebration is interrupted by a killer, who also assassinates innocent bystanders. First to arrive on that scene is Shadow Wolf Border Patrolman Dan Pardee, a half-Apache Iraq veteran who discovers a frightened little girl hiding in a car. He takes responsibility for her care, takes her to the hospital to check on cuts and scratches and meets Dr. Lani Walker, a young Indian doctor who has returned home.

A second murder case involves retired homicide detective Brandon Walker (Lani’s adoptive father), in his second appearance with Jance, tries to solve the long ago murder of an Arizona State University coed. His wife, Diana Ladd, is troubled by old ghosts, causing the couple to fear early Alzheimer’s onset.

Jance’s unusual structure works well to build suspense. Three families’ stories are skillfully interwoven with underlying Tohono O’oodham traditions.

Each short chapter is headed by date, time, place. Often they run simultaneously, but Jance traces what every character or couple is doing and thinking. At times, they intersect, of course. Each character is fairly well fleshed out as to background and personality, which explains their responses and actions. Quiet reflective scenes blend with fast action. The reader does need to register when and where we are at all times to keep track.

The author, obviously very familiar with her setting, weaves in traditional Indian philosophy and ceremony and depicts Pardee and Lani Walker with feet in both worlds as they try to blend past with present experience. (Happily, they understand each other).

Not to be forgotten is experienced Pima county homicide investigator Brian Fellows who is first on the case and then is bumped by a politically ambitious sheriff. He and his wife are instrumental in finally catching the elusive murderer, whose moves are also spelled out for the reader, who may need to stay up late to finish this compelling tale.

Jance lives in both Tucson and Seattle and has written three previous Walker family thrillers as well as three other series. She appeared at Denver Central Library on August 2 and is touring throughout the west and southwest. “Queen of the Night” is dedicated to the late loved Arizona writer Tony Hillerman.