In the heart of Indian country in the American west, clandestine criminals were profiting greatly from the sale of sacred Native American artifacts stolen from tribal lands. These artifacts were so ancient they had been used since the migration of the first Americans into North America some 15,000 years ago. In the year 1998, the illegal trafficking of these artifacts peaked in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At the same time, the tribes and pueblos in New Mexico and Arizona fell into crisis because many of their sacred ceremonies couldn't be conducted. Without their ceremonial objects, sickness and deep depression became prevalent and the spiritual leaders became desperate to get their divine artifacts back to restore the health, happiness, and balance of their people.

Plunder of the Ancients is a rare look inside an actual undercover investigation in which special agent Lucinda Schroeder reveals the details of her case in which she was assigned to expose the Santa Fean Indian Art thieves and dealers, who out of unmitigated greed, were exploiting sacred artifacts for huge sums of money. Her final task was to bring the criminals to justice; recover the sacred artifacts and return them to their rightful people. But all did not go well for Schroeder. While her cover was airtight, she faced betrayal from people she regarded beyond reproach. Her additional challenge then became to find out who was so determined to undermine and even destroy her mission of restoring the spiritual lives of Native Americans who were suffering.

Plunder of the Ancients takes listeners along on a dangerous and unprecedented assignment as Schroeder battles betrayal, evil spirits, and shape shifters for a cause she strongly believes in. This is a true story that reads like a Tony Hillerman mystery.