THE DEATH OF BERNADETTE LEFTHAND by...

THE DEATH OF BERNADETTE LEFTHAND by Ron Querry (Bantam: $9.95; 218 pp.). The winner of two regional awards, Ron Querry’s first novel traces the life and death of Bernadette Lefthand, the star traditional dancer on the Jicarilla Apache reservation. Her involvement with a happy-go-lucky Navajo rodeo rider precipitates a complex series of events that culminate in her murder. Querry chillingly evokes the traditional witchcraft that may be involved in her death, especially in the chapters narrated by Bernadette’s 16-year-old sister Gracie.