From Publishers Weekly
In her seventh mystery set among the Arapahos of Wyoming's Wind River Reservation featuring her twin sleuths, Father John O'Malley (on the rez) and Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden (temporarily transplanted to Denver), Coel gets the atmosphere just right. Every physical detail of the "vision quest" that a desperate young man named Duncan Grover undertakes on a cliff above Bear Lake seems perfect, while the challenges of Vicky's new life as a high-profile attorney are equally sharp. But the actual story here is the problem: it seems to be made up of recycled plot elements from several other recent Western mysteries. Grover's murder, made to look like a suicide, and only uncovered when Father John hears the details in a confession; the heavy-breathing corporate villains seeking to exploit the Native Americans and plunder their riches (not oil or gold this time, but diamonds); the insensitive white cops who just don't get it surely we've covered this ground before. Too bad, because when Coel writes about Father John's tricky relationship with Vicky (echoed in a lawsuit filed by a frustrated woman against his new assistant), or Vicky's edgy moments with the husband and children she left behind, she is on original and interesting ground. The author's previous books have been justly praised by the likes of Tony Hillerman, but an overly familiar plot this time out could lead to bad word-of-mouth and a falling off in sales.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley discover that both the supposed suicide of a young Arapaho on the Wind River Reservation and a hit-and-run accident in Denver may in fact be covered-up murders. Now they must uncover what it is about the reservation that people are willing to kill for...
Praise for Margaret Coel's bestselling series:
"Shouldn't be missed by anyone interested in either new trends in mystery writing or contemporary Indian culture. She's a master at both." (Tony Hillerman)
"Readers will be engrossed in the expertly crafted suspense." (
Publishers Weekly)
"Margaret Coel joins the top echelon of writers who weave Native American culture into cleverly designed mysteries." (
The Midwest Book Review)
"Seamless storytelling by someone who's obviously been there." (J.A. Jance)
"A superior series." (
Booklist [starred review])
