Wednesday, September 22, 2021

At Ease With the Dead by Walter Satterthwait

 
First Line: Normally a Santa Fe summer is one of the blessings of the Weather Gods.
 
While out fishing, private investigator Joshua Croft saves elderly Navajo Daniel Begay from a trio of abusive rednecks. Never expecting to see him again, he's very surprised when Begay shows up in his office and wants to hire him. The case is unusual, and it isn't going to be easy. Begay wants Croft to recover the bones of Ganado, a Navajo warrior... and those bones have been missing since 1925.

Ganado's skeleton was stolen by an oil prospector on sacred Navajo land. Less than a month later, the prospector was killed, and the bones haven't been seen since. 

Making it perfectly clear that he probably won't be successful, Croft takes on a case which he believes to be hopeless but relatively harmless. He couldn't be more wrong. The deeper he digs, the more danger he puts himself and others in. From El Paso to the Navajo Nation, Croft's investigation puts him solidly in the sights of someone who thinks nothing of killing to keep long-buried secrets.

~

A few years back, I stumbled across a mystery, Miss Lizzie, in which Satterthwait made Lizzie Borden one half of a detective duo. I loved the story, and I loved Satterthwait's poetic writing style. I went looking for more written by him and came across his first Joshua Croft mystery, Wall of Glass. Since the series is set in Santa Fe and I'd fallen in love with the place after a visit, I read it and knew I'd be back for more. I really enjoy Satterthwait's descriptions of the New Mexican landscape, how he develops his characters, and his stories.

Croft works for (and loves) wheelchair-bound Rita Mondragon, an intelligent, beautiful, and stubborn woman who states, "I'll leave this house when I can walk out of it." Croft feels she's making a mistake, but he's willing to accept Rita on her own terms. 

The mystery in At Ease With the Dead (the title taken from a quote by Geronimo) is filled with danger, archaeology, oil prospecting, and humor. It's a "buddy movie" in which Croft often finds himself paired with the elderly Navajo, Daniel Begay. The old man has so many tricks up his sleeve that one day Croft looks at him and asks, "Are you really Batman?" This pairing provides much-needed levity in what could have been a very dark story.

Croft has a smart-alecky wit that I really appreciate. Satterthwait has developed a strong cast of characters, and he certainly knows how to construct a mystery that keeps readers guessing as well as bringing his setting to life. He also has the knack of including sentences that can make you stop and think. "Guilt is sometimes a secret sort of self-esteem" or "If you see the world as an organism, a single entity, which of course it is, then you can't help but see the human race as a kind of virus on its surface, actively engaged in  killing off the host."

Story, setting, language, characters, Satterthwait's Joshua Croft is an often thought-provoking mystery series that I will certainly be returning to.

At Ease With the Dead by Walter Satterthwait
eISBN: 9781453251287
Open Road Integrated Media © 2012
Originally published 1991.
eBook, 248 pages
 
Private Investigator, #2 Joshua Croft mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

13 comments:

  1. This does sound interesting and a bit different, always a good thing.
    But that last quote is a bit cynical for me. I prefer to be more hopeful and appreciate human beings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do try to maintain hope in my heart, but after decades of working in the customer service field, I do tend to be more cynical than you.

      Delete
    2. Well, I try to find the optimistic side of things and the good people. I had to deal with a company that provides internet and phone service for a foundation I help. It took months of calls and frustration. Finally, in early June I talked to someone who helped. Then after three months of nothing happening., I found the same person who said exactly what needed to be done on my part. I did it.
      She called me at home to say everything is fine and will be resolved.
      We had a great talk, someone I don't know, but who lives in a small Kansas town. We talked about our lives, which are very different. But we hit it off.
      So I erase all of the hassles and glitches for six months, and I remember this woman who is at retirement age, but will keep working, and who should be training all of the younger workers.
      It made my day to talk to her. So I hold onto this memory and forget the rest.
      My parents were hopeful, but realistic. I see the horrors perpetrated by the Border Patrol agaqinst desperate Haitian refugees. And then I see the people and groups who are stepping up to help them.

      Delete
  2. This sounds intriguing, Cathy. I like it when authors don't do 'the same old thing,' and it sounds as though this has a different sort of take on the story. I do like a dose of wit, too...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really like Satterthwait's writing. Unfortunately, he died last year.

      Delete
  3. I remember reading Miss Lizzie and really enjoying it. Not sure I knew this author wrote a series set in NM. I'll have to look for it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So far he hasn't sent the series to Ruidoso. ;-)

      Delete
  4. This looks like a good Native American Mystery Novel. It's sad to know their grounds/bones are not treated with respect.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Another Western/Native American series to add to my list! Just ordered the first in the series. I'm going to have to stop reading your reviews, Cathy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh now... you really don't want to do that, do you? ;-)

      Delete
  6. Jen, don't do it! The blog is too valuable to skip.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!