I met R. D. Lyons at a writers' conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where he makes his home, and bought a copy of his cleverly imagined novel, "Mexico's Hidden Gold."

Building on the historical speculation of a fortune in government gold stolen in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution and allegedly buried in the hills above Puerto Vallarta, Lyons turns a gang of laid-back gringos living in the rustic seaside village of Yelapa into fortune hunters as he spins his fast-moving tale.

John Kylie, well-heeled and on the run from a corporate stock scam in the States, throws in with a retired Army officer, Edgar Allen, called Raven, in search of the rumored gold. Two intriguing love interests, the forthright and open Pricilla and the mysterious, "honey-hued" Malin compete for Kylie's attention, but he is more interested in pursuing the hidden gold than seeking their attentions. Raven's young friend, Tommy, an altruistic dropout doctor of medicine, turns up dead, complicating the search.

The evil Colonel Marquez and his lieutenant have killed Don Chuy, the last known link to Pancho Villa and the theft of the nation's treasury. They are suspected in Tommy's murder and are breathing down the necks of the hapless fortune hunters from Yelapa's beaches -- and can it be that the beautiful and mysterious Malin has thrown in with the Colonel?

Lyons brings it all to a satisfying conclusion and along the way treats the reader to some wonderful scenic descriptions of one of the world's prettiest places and plenty of intrigue to tickle that avaricious yearning buried deep in all of us.