PORT NECHES — Avalon Books will release Port Neches author Kent Conwell’s book “The Crystal Skull Murders” in June.

The mystery is based on the legendary crystal skull allegedly worshipped by ancients as a source of mythical powers. Coincidentally, the novel’s subject deals with the identical skull on which the latest Indiana Jones movie, “The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” focuses.

According to the Library Journal, “the Tony Boudreaux mystery depicts a smooth, savvy Tony Boudreaux, Conwell’s character from “The Swamps of Bayou Teche,” looking into an arson fire and the murder of a street person in Austin. But his boss also wants him to mentor a new hire who hates men and is the boss’s sister-in-law. Reminiscent of the 1950s hard-boiled detective stories with a dash of 21st century male awareness, this series is engaging on all fronts. Giving Tony a unique female partner is a masterstroke.”

Golden Triangle writer D.J. Resnick, editor-in-chief of Emunah Books and KD Writers Services, says the book “is well-crafted and moves at a lively pace with clues and red herrings woven dexterously into the story line, Boudreaux is a well defined protagonist. The byplay between Boudreaux and Doreen Patterson, his abrasive trainee, works well. It is a timely tale as historic objects have been in the recent news. As in any good who-done-it, author Conwell leaves the denouement until almost the last page and ties up the threads with a deft hand. This, I’m sure, will not be my last Boudreaux mystery.”

The novel may be requested through local bookstores or from Avalon Books, 160 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y., 10016 or any online bookstore.