Spirit Sickness

Mitchell has taken the emerging Indian Reservation Mystery genre and transported it beyond the cliches. This satisfying novel is mature on several levels: plot development, character development, sophistication and depravity of the villians' human motives (as well as those of some good guys, too). This is a good page-turner with fresh twists on the "torn between two worlds" modern Indian/cop conflict. The believably sketched heroes are delightfully flawed and vulnerable--though their stamina occasionally stretches credulity.The settings of the multi-layered but comprehensible plot move us on and off the rez with gritty, believable reality. Mitchell creates credible characters without any of the tired Indian-as-misunderstood-and-victimized-mystic trappings that reduces some other novelists' efforts in the genre. Mitchell even manages to transcend the usual, cliche conflicts between tribal police departments and federal law enforcement agencies while maintaining a realistic sense of bureaucratic functioning. And get this, not every bureaucrat is wooden and incompetent!The inventive plot evolves with taut exposition and the believability that's born of both familiarity and homework. You'll be surprised at some developments, and smugly proud of your powers of deduction in predicting others. But you'll never feel cheated.All in all, this is a tale as fresh, stimulating, and welcome as a spring rain over a desert in the four corners.

Read all of them is all I can say. If you like Hillerman, you will love this book and the others in the series.

Mitchell is a great teller of stories. His mysteries have a harder edge than Hillerman and he does a great job with the traditions and landscape. I read Hillerman because I want to be transported to the wide open reservation. I read Mitchell for the same reasons, but his stories tend to be a little more intense and there are times when that is very welcome. Mitchell's characters of Parker and Turnipseed are every bit as memorable as Hillerman's Chee and Leaphorn. If you like Hillerman, you will also like Mitchell ... a lot.

Murder, mayhem, and secrets in and around the Dine (Navajo) Reservation. A prior review compares this unfavorably with Tony Hillerman's books. I disagree. I tried to read a Tony Hillerman book once & just could not get into it. On the other hand, "Spirit Sickness" is my first Kirk Mitchell book, but it won't be my last! He has interesting characters in a credible, action-packed thriller.

After her last case, FBI Special Agent Anna Turnipseed is placed on convalescent leave. The Indian is unsure whether she can return to her field job. The legendary Bureau of Indians Affair Investigator Emmett Parker worked with Anna on that investigation that has left her so shook up. Emmett wants Anna to join him on future cases although he hates her department, writing them off as bunglers.In Window Rock, Arizona located on the Navaho Reservation, a police officer and his wife are found cooked to death inside a police car. Parker is assigned the case and pushes Anna into working with him on the task force. Although afraid, Anna accepts the assignment and accompanies Emmett to the sight of the double homicide. In the background, the Gila Monster, a human using the form of a Navaho myth, plans to eradicate more cops before going after his final targets.Fans of Tony Hillerman and the Thurlos will want to read SPIRIT SICKNESS, a thriller that captures the cultural identity of the Navaho Nation. Kirk Mitchell is a talented storyteller who creates characters that seem real though not particularly likable. The subplots bring the main story line together with no lose threads, remarkable as that seems, because this compelling tale is rich with sidebars.Harriet Klausner