Wife of Moon (A Wind River Reservation Mystery)

This series does truly keep getting better and better. This is my favourite book so far, and I still have two or three more to go. I love Father John O'Malley. He is so real that I can't help going through all his angst with him. Vicky is a good character too. This book has non-stop tension from beginning to end. It actally starts in October 1907 and Coel weaves back and forth from then to the present day. When an historic photographer's works are shown at the Wind River Museum, Father O'Malley has no idea that these pictures would wake up a sleeping terror that has lain dormant for almost 100 years. Vicky and Father John are drawn into a web of terror and a cover-up that is incendiary as it was in 1907. Of course there are more dead bodies along the way, but Father John and Vicky stick with it until they discover the truth of what happened on the reserve in 1907. This books was riveting, and I just couldn't put it down. Can't wait for the next one.

Father John O'Mallory, the "Indian priest" at the Wind River Reservation, got a phone call from his Episcopal colleague at the other side of the res. Father Nathan has received a message meant for Father John, which seems to indicate some old wars are heating up again. In 1874, Shoshone warriors massacred Arapaho in the Bates Battle. Now, 125 years later those left of the Arapaho have peacefully co-existed with the Shoshone at Wind River. But all that might come to an end, as Father John decodes the message and finds the bodies of slain Shoshone at the site of the Arapaho massacre. In the meantime, Vicky Holden trying to devote her law practice to the big issues of her tribe, currently working on documents related to the reintroduction of the wolf. But she keeps being sucked back into representation of a young trouble-maker she's represented on DUI, assault, and burglary charges. But this time, he might go down for the murders. And Father John and Vicky both have other problems. Father John's new assistant fears he'll never earn the same respect as the older priest. Vicky's new law partner worries that she'll contunue to represent the lowlife, draining all her energy away from the big projects. And just what is the relationship between Father John and Vicky? Margaret Coel has given us another terrific mystery that keeps us guessing until the end, set among the peoples and places her readers have come to love. Highly recommended.

WIFE OF MOON (Margaret Coel; Berkley Prime Crime) continues the distinguished Wind River series that follows the interlocking lives of Father John O'Malley and lawyer Vicky Holden. Two mysteries almost a century apart interweave across the storylines, but the strongest mystery here is the relationship between John and Vicky and their futures. Will she star a new life with her new lawyer love interest? Will the Jesuit powers above Father John whisk him away and take the reservation mission in a new direction? The evocative use of language is as compelling as ever in Coel's work. Reading her, I often have to go to my window to make sure I'm still in Pennsylvania and haven't somehow been magically transported to Wyoming. She keeps me on the edge of my chair, wondering what will happen to these two people and how she has managed to get me to invest so much in them. I'll definitely be back to find out when her next Wind River mystery appears. One for my Agatha nomination list.

Margaret Coel writes an intriguing mystery which is based on the photographs which Edward Curtis took of the Plains Indians in the early 1900's. Curtis recreated battle scenes by hiring Indians to dress like their forefathers and relive scenes from the past. During one of these photo sessions an Arapaho woman is shot and killed. Her Anglo husband testifies that he saw three Indians murder his wife. With this as a background, the book shifts to the present-day Wind River Reservation, where an Arapaho woman is found dead. Father John O'Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden discover a connection between the Curtis photographs and the recent murder. Their investigation threatens a politician who is running for Senator and who advocates mining the natural resources on the reservation. As usual, Vicky and Father John grapple with their feelings for one another as they attempt to solve the murder and to do what is right. This is an altogether satisfying mystery which gives the reader a look at history and a feel for the Arapaho culture.

The murders begin in 1907 on the Arapaho Wind River Reservation when photographer Edward S. Curtis convinces the Indians to reconstruct a village and have warriors attack the tribe. During the shooting with blank bullets, Bashful Woman, the daughter of Chief Sharp Nose, is killed by a real bullet. Her Anglo husband Carston Evans testifies that he saw the Indian Thunder kill his wife and his two Native American friends were adding him in the attack. His testimony was enough to convict and hang the trio. In the present, Denise, a descendant of Sharp Nose is murdered and her husband J.T. Painted Horse is the FBI's number one suspect until he is tortured and killed by men who were looking for something on the same night Denise died. Christine, the curator of the Arapaho Museum, disappears and her home is ransacked. Lawyer Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley investigate the homicide from different directions, but reach the same conclusion. Vicky tries to convince the authorities who she believes is behind the murders while Father John tries to protect the last remaining witness. Through the use of flashbacks readers learn what really happened on that day in 1907 and how justice was thwarted. The Arapaho still seek justice for Bashful Women in the present but they are up against high powered politicians who will use any means at their disposal to erase the proof of what happened almost a century ago and they will kill anyone who has knowledge of that event. WIFE OF MOON is an exciting who-done-it that will appeal to fans of Tony Hillerman and David and Aimee Thurlo thrillers. Margaret Coel provides a deep look at the Arapaho culture wrapped around a fabulous mystery. Harriet Klausner