The Silent Spirit [Hardcover]

Picking up the newest episode of Margaret Coel's Wind River Mysteries is like coming home to a familiar community. This time, it's just that for Father John O'Malley. He has returned to the Wyoming mission after spending six months in Rome. All too soon, he's faced with a series of challenging circumstances surrounding Kiki Wallowingbull, a young Arapaho and ex-con who appears to be on a mission of his own. Kiki swears that he's given up drugs, and the priest tries to counsel him. But it seems as though the young man might well have been lying when his dead body is later found by the river, at a place well known to be used by drug dealers. Father John of course launches his own informal investigation into Kiki's tragic death.

At the same time, Native American attorney Vicky Holden is having difficulties of her own in her law partnership with Adam Lone Eagle. Adam prefers to work on cases that benefit the Native Americans on a grander scale, while Vicky still sees a need for individual representation. So when an anonymous caller tells her he killed someone accidentally, Vicky makes his case a priority. And the victim in question turns out to be Kiki Wallowingbull. As usual, Vicky and John end up working together to find answers to the questions that only they seem to be asking.

The viewpoint of the narrative alternates between Father John, Vicky, and the subject matter of Kiki's obsession: what really happened to his great-grandfather, Charlie Wallowingbull. Charlie had been part of a group of Indians who appeared in the 1920s silent film, "The Covered Wagon." But he never returned to the reservation after going to Hollywood to promote the film. Did he have a second life? Was he murdered? And if so, by whom? Did Kiki learn the truth about his ancestor? Was that the reason for his own murder? And can Vicky and John figure out the truth as well?

Margaret Coel has woven a compelling story here that reads like true crime. She's placed a fictitious and suspicious murder into the very real history of the movie industry and "The Covered Wagon." She always gives us something to think about, teaching non-Native American readers about the lives of the folks on the reservations, both past and present. This is an intriguing tale that should interest many readers, even those who may be visiting the St. Francis Mission for the very first time.

On the Wind River reservation, Kiki Wallowingbull comes home after serving two years on a charge of selling drugs. Father John O'Malley, who just returned from Rome after a six month stint there is now the interim pastor of St. Francis Mission located on the reservation. He and Kiki meet and the ex-convict tells the priest he is clean and determined to find out what happened to his great-grandfather Charlie who vanished in 1923 while in Hollywood doing a shoot to promote a movie, The Covered Wagon, in which he had a part.

When Kiki returns from Hollywood, he tells Father John that the answer to the disappearance is here on the reservation. Soon afterward, Kiki is found dead. Lawyer Vicky Holden hears from a man who insists he killed him in self-defence, but though they soon talk in person she never sees his face. The police arrest a drug dealer, but Vicky knows the man is innocent of this crime; she must find the culprit to insure justice is served even though the arrested prime suspect is a career criminal.

The story is told in two parts, the present and 1923 when the Arapahos and the Shoshones make the movie. In the present, Kiki dies trying to learn what really happened to his ancestor. Readers will enjoy trying to find out what the link between the two deaths are besides blood; and want to do it before Father John and Vicky solve it. Margaret Coel provides an enjoyable mystery that is highlighted by the Arapahos eight decades ago and now.

Harriet Klausner

Twenty-five-year-old Arapaho Kiki Wallowingbull has led a troubled life. Raised by his grandparents, Kiki has been involved with drugs and crime for years. After his release from prison for a drug conviction, he is determined to turn his life around, reconnect with his roots, and make his grandfather proud. In order to do this, Kiki embarks on a journey to find out what happened to Charlie Wallowingbull, his great-grandfather.

In 1923, Charlie was one of hundreds of Arapahos who left the Wind River Reservation to live on the Utah-Nevada border in order to appear as an extra during filming of the silent movie The Covered Wagon. During the shooting, Hollywood movie star Tim McCoy served as an interpreter and advocate for the Native Americans on the set, making sure they were taken care of and treated with respect. But when a stunningly beautiful actress caused friction on the set, Charlie found himself in the middle of the trouble.

Back in the present, Jesuit priest Father John O'Malley is a recovering alcoholic who has returned from a six-month sabbatical in Rome to minister to Native Americans at St. Francis Mission in Colorado. Understaffed and overworked, Father John burns the midnight oil and consumes coffee --- cups and mugs and pots of it --- as he struggles with his inner demons while trying to shepherd his new flock.

Shortly after Kiki returns from California, he is murdered. His frozen body is found on a river bank by Father John. Word on the reservation (spread by the "moccasin telegraph") is that his death is drug-related. Because of Kiki's past involvement with drugs and the location of the body, authorities believe he has been murdered as a result of a drug deal gone wrong. But Andrew Wallowingbull, Kiki's grandfather and an Arapaho elder, knows Kiki was drug-free and trying to turn his life around. Andrew pleads with Father John to find out who murdered Kiki and prove that he was off drugs.

Vicky Holden, a lawyer and member of the Arapaho tribe, and her Lakota partner Adam Lone Eagle work to protect tribal interests. Vicky became a lawyer "to help people with no reason to trust the authorities and no reason to hope." One night, she receives calls from a mysterious voice pleading with her for help. He claims to have killed Kiki in self-defense, and is desperate to prove his innocence before he is sent to prison and loses his son. Father John and Vicky, who have feelings for one another but fight their attraction, are brought together to help solve Kiki's murder and clear his name. To do so, they must also uncover the mystery of Kiki's great-grandfather.

Margaret Coel has created a compelling mystery, using narratives from the past and present to link the lives of generations of Arapahos with the early history of Hollywood filmmaking and the treatment of Native Americans through the decades. In the bleak and remote landscape of a bitter Colorado winter, her richly drawn yet flawed characters seek redemption while struggling to overcome their sordid pasts. Readers who enjoy mysteries with a Native American or an early Hollywood slant should drink up THE SILENT SPIRIT.

--- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt

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