From Publishers Weekly
Among the best mysteries featuring Native American characters and milieu are Hager's stories, especially those starring plucky, part-Cherokee Molly Bearpaw, investigator for the Native American Advocacy League on tribal lands in rural Oklahoma. When storyteller Tom Battle falls to the ground during a festival, all eyes turn to Wolf Kawaya, sworn political enemy of Battle and former husband of Battle's current lover. Wolf belongs to the militant True Echota Band and Tom, a lawyer, had recently won several decisions in the Cherokee Nation's court fights with the Band. Eventually, nicotine poisoning is given as the cause of death and Molly must untangle motivations of the heart and politics among suspects who also include schizophrenic loners and overprotective family members. Although the politics are sometimes cursorily handled, Hager explores the Cherokee culture with trenchant compassion rather than overcareful reverence and deftly inserts hairpin turns into the narrative. Her characters sparkle with humor and sorrow and, occasionally, with treachery. This is the second in a series that began with Ravenmocker.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Tony Hillerman fans will enjoy this mystery set in Oklahoma and featuring members of the Cherokee tribe. Spirited Molly Bearpaw, an investigator for the Native American Advocacy League who also appeared in
Ravenmocker (1992), determines to help her best friend, Daye Hummingbird, when Daye's fianc{‚}e, Tom Battle, a tribal lawyer and well-known storyteller, is killed by a poison dart at a local Cherokee festival. Molly can think of only two reasons why Battle might have been murdered: Daye's hot-tempered ex-husband killed Battle because he resented her engagement, or a member of the neoconservative True Echota Band killed Battle because of his anti-TEB activities. Hager, who is herself one-sixth Cherokee, shows a good understanding of Cherokee tribal life in today's modern world, and she deftly characterizes a whole range of intriguing Native American personalities, from wise elders coping with contemporary life to renegade youngsters ignoring ancient tribal traditions. Molly Bearpaw is an intelligent and tenacious heroine who is sure to attract fans.
Emily Melton
