Digging for the truth: Fictional reporter Elizabeth Doyle finds herself entangled in another mystery in 'The Sunshine Solution'

When last we saw Elizabeth “Digger” Doyle she was the tough-as-nails city hall reporter for a newspaper in the fictional New Mexico town of Las Vistas.

Digger is the protagonist in Rosalie Rayburn’s debut novel “The Power of Rain” published two years ago.

In that novel, Digger was probing the dirty politics behind a planned extension of a road that would limit access to a venerable Spanish chapel but shorten the distance nearby residents would have to a shopping area.

Leading a protest of the road extension was Maria Ortiz, who had an on-again, off-again personal relationship with Digger. Fearing a conflict of interest with her job, Digger wants to keep that relationship on the down low.

Digging for the truth: Fictional reporter Elizabeth Doyle finds herself entangled in another mystery in 'The Sunshine Solution'

Now, in Rayburn’s second work of crime fiction, “The Sunshine Solution,” Digger and Maria return as newlyweds, Digger’s newspaper has shuttered, and she is an employee in the New Mexico cultural affairs department.

But there’s no keeping Digger from sniffing out skulduggery in a planned multimillion-dollar solar photovoltaic array near Las Vistas and cutting across San Fermin Pueblo.

Actually, Digger’s boss, department secretary Julia Montoya asks Digger to quietly keep an eye on the array plans to be funded by the New Mexico State Land Office. Montoya sweetens the offer by telling Digger the trip is a “prewedding” present for her and Maria.

Digger asks herself why would Montoya be coyly interested in a project not under her jurisdiction. And why would Land Office Commissioner Chris Lovington make the announcement of a solar project at remote Chaco Canyon, a National Historical Park? Why not announce it at Lovington’s office in Santa Fe? Or even at Las Vistas, in the shadow of the planned project? Why is the state kicking in $15 million?

Those are some of the questions Digger raises and feeds to a reporter-friend at a Santa Fe paper. Digger is also a conduit for project information to Maria, who happens to be running for a seat in the state Legislature.

Rayburn peels back layers of shady characters. There’s Montoya and her brother, Randy Garcia, who seems to be the hidden force behind the project. Sister and brother may be seeking revenge on Lovington for having apparently, indirectly, caused the death — suicide? — of their politically prominent father.

Then there’s an ex-pastor, Tony Kramer, and his new girlfriend/new business partner, Janet Macy. They’re based in Phoenix, home to Solar GRX, the array’s announced developer. Home may be just a UPS box. Are Kramer and Macy hired to spoon-feed the importance of the project to New Mexico? Who are GRX’s investors? What’s the company’s track record, if it has one?

There’s Danny Murphy, who wants to connect lines from a hoped-for upscale residential development to the solar array and piggyback to a new road for the array. Murphy was a buddy of the nefarious Johnny Raposa in “The Power of Rain.”

In “The Sunshine Solution,” Murphy also happens to be a candidate for the same legislative seat Maria is seeking. A lot of intriguing intersections.

Chunks of the novel are taken up by descriptions of Maria and Digger’s cozy life under the same roof with Maria’s welcoming grandmother, Abuela; of Maria’s strained relationship with her mother; of Maria’s extended family; of her ex-girlfriend Izzy Chavez; and Digger and Maria’s romantic moments.

Those brief, romantic interludes are dropped in frequently. As an example, on page 16 we see “…Maria’s arms slide around (Digger’s) waist and her lips brush the back of her neck. Her voice was barely above a whisper.”

Rayburn is comfortable describing vistas and landscapes. Here’s a beauty: “The night was already brilliant with stars and the air so cold it bit the skin.”

In an email, the author, who was a reporter for the Albuquerque Journal for 18 years, wrote that she’s always been sensitive to the rural settings of the countries she lived in “… and you notice the land around you much more than in a city. You are more attuned to the changing seasons, the colors, the vegetation. New Mexico is such a unique environment and it captured my heart.”

She divides her time between New Mexico and Portugal. A third novel with Digger and Maria is in the works. Rayburn’s website is RosalieRayburn.com.