Bad Medicine

Navaho tribal investigator Ella Clah is isolated form the Navaho community she is sworn to protect because of her FBI training and her family heritage of being vessels of powerful magic. Ella herself is torn between the traditional beliefs of her people and the scientific method employed in the Anglo world. When the Anglo miners form the Brotherhood, a group that preaches hatred and violence, several Navaho retaliate by forming a counter-group, spouting the same violent intolerance. Both groups operate in secrecy, but when one of the miners is murdered, the escalated tension between the two groups is noticed by the police. Ella, who is in charge of the investigation, concludes that some powerful person, working behind the scenes, is manipulating events to further drive a schism between he two communities. Before the reservation explodes into more deaths, Ella must learn who the enemy is and why he has brought evil to the peaceful area. This is the third book in the Ella Clah series and it is by far the best one to date, an amazing accomplishment since the first two novels were quite good. Readers feel a real connection to the heroine's angst as she struggles with an inner turmoil caused by having her feet straddle two worlds. It should not surprise fans of the terrific Thurlo twosome that this novel has a haunting quality reminiscent of Tony Hillerman and Louise Eldrich. Harriet Klausner

Navaho tribal investigator Ella Clah is isolated form the Navaho community she is sworn to protect because of her FBI training and her family heritage of being vessels of powerful magic. Ella herself is torn between the traditional beliefs of her people and the scientific method employed in the Anglo world. When the Anglo miners form the Brotherhood, a group that preaches hatred and violence, several Navaho retaliate by forming a counter-group, spouting the same violent intolerance. Both groups operate in secrecy, but when one of the miners is murdered, the escalated tension between the two groups is noticed by the police. Ella, who is in charge of the investigation, concludes that some powerful person, working behind the scenes, is manipulating events to further drive a schism between he two communities. Before the reservation explodes into more deaths, Ella must learn who the enemy is and why he has brought evil to the peaceful area. This is the third book in the Ella Clah series and it is by far the best one to date, an amazing accomplishment since the first two novels were quite good. Readers feel a real connection to the heroine's angst as she struggles with an inner turmoil caused by having her feet straddle two worlds. It should not surprise fans of the terrific Thurlo twosome that this novel has a haunting quality reminiscent of Tony Hillerman and Louise Eldrich. Harriet Klausner