The Thunder Keeper

The #7 book in the series is just as good as all the rest. Margaret coal draws you in to the lives of the people on the wind river reservation

Margaret Coel's series about the Wind River Reservation is excellent reading. Not only do these books deal meaningfully with major concerns facing the Native Americans on reservations in the US, they are also fascinating psychological studies and exciting mystery narratives. This particular story, dealing with the problem of artifact theft, is extremely timely. I don't collect many "series" novels, but I will continue to acquire and cherish Coel's work.

This series and Margaret Coel are one of my favorites! I enjoy the descriptions of the southwest and the relationship between the main characters.

The Arapahos on the Wind River Reservation are shocked to hear that one of their own has committed suicide while on a vision quest in a place that is sacred to the Indians. Their doubt is reinforced when their priest, Father John, is visited in the confessional by a man who says that his boss killed the Indian. Meanwhile Arapaho attorney, Vicky Holden, who has moved to Denver in order to reduce her attraction to Father John, receives a phone call from a man who wants to meet with her and discuss a matter of concern about the reservation. As she is going to meet with him, he is killed in what is seemingly a hit-and-run accident. Even though these two friends are far apart, their two cases begin to intersect and they share information which will help them solve the mystery. Author Cole inserts some interesting moments in her two characters' lives, such as Vicky's son returning to Denver to live near her and Father John's problems with his assistant when a young woman sues him for sexual assault. The books in this series are all well-written and can be counted on to provide a good read.

Author Margaret Coel launches "The Thunder Keeper," seventh in the line of a classic mystery series set on the Arapaho's Wind River reservation, with the classic hook of a man alone high on a ledge who soon plummets to his death. The police learn the dead man has been on an Arapaho spirit quest and label the death a suicide. But, a few pages later, a mysterious stranger confesses to a priest that soon more people will be murdered.Coel's stories feature two amateur sleuths: St. Francis Mission Priest, Father John O'Malley, (history scholar and recovering alcoholic,) who has been exiled to the Arapaho reservation mission in Wyoming, and Vicky Holden, an Arapaho attorney who carries the baggage of a mean ex-husband, sometimes unhappy son (and a reciprocated inappropriate attraction for Father O'Malley.)Father O'Malley knows he is bound by his vows to keep the confession secret. He decides to investigate the death of the man on a spirit quest himself.Meanwhile, attorney Vicky Holden witnesses the horrific hit-and-run slaughter of Vince Lewis, a man who had valuable information he was about to tell her in reference to an urgent matter regarding the Wind River Reservation. Are the two deaths connected? If so, what ties them together? What is the secret worth killing for on Arapaho land? The freshness of Coel's writing, the voice and clarity of the story, as well as her love and passion for the West shine in phrases like these: "The mountains rose jagged and blue in the orange-tinged dusk. Northwest, where the mountains dropped into a gully that allowed the sky to flow through, was Bear Lake," and "The thunder sounded like tanks rumbling through the sky. Lightning turned the air white and sent a charge through the earth that he could feel reverberating inside him....when the lightning flashed again he saw the petroglyph shining on the cliff above-human looking, eyes all-seeing, hands raised in benediction. He was not alone. The spirits were here, the messengers of the Creator." Coel's skill crafting this series is a pleasure to watch. Read "The Thunder Keeper" for pure enjoyment.

Vicky Holden loves the land of the Arapahos, the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming, but she still leaves her home to take a job in Denver. The attorney needs to get away from the Jesuit priest Father O'Malley because they both have feelings for one other that are inappropriate. She also has to get away from her ex-husband, who wants to reconcile, but he keeps falling off the wagon and he is a mean drunk. In Denver, Vicky currently works on a mineral rights case on behalf of the Navaho Nation. However, she receives a call from Vince Lewis, a vice president of Balder Industries, famous for their diamond minding operations. He tells her that he has information she needs to know involving the Wind River Reservation, but before they meet a hit and run driver kills Vince. Back on the reservation, Father John hears the confession of a man who says his partner killed a man in a place sacred to the Arapaho. The police rule the man's death a suicide but Father John knows somebody killed him and there will be more deaths if the person isn't stopped. Vicky and Father John are coming at the same problem from different angles, both of them putting their lives in jeopardy. Fans of Aimee and David Thurlo and Tony Hillerman will definitely enjoy this fast paced mystery starring two likable, believable and colorful protagonists. The heroine is a role model for women everywhere and the hero not only understands the underlying concepts of justice, he abides by them in his life. THE THUNDER KEEPER by Margaret Coel is a definite keeper.Harriet Klausner