Back at The Poisoned Pen!

After much deliberation, I decided to throw caution to the wind and head to my favorite bookstore, The Poisoned Pen, for an author event. It had probably been three years since the last time I'd gone. That time, Denis and I wound up being stranded for two and a half hours on a cold, wet, dark street corner waiting for Paratransit to pick us up.

Since I am now flying solo, the thought of being stranded alone and in the dark had little appeal for me, but since this event was in July with warmer temperatures and longer daylight hours, I decided that enough was enough! I was going, blast it!

I am so glad I did! It was so good to chat with Patrick and Barbara and local author Deborah Ledford as well. To be honest, it was like coming home. 

One of the few good things that happened as a result of Covid is the fact that you can watch this event, too, either on The Poisoned Pen's Youtube channel, or on Facebook. I also highly recommend both of Weiden's books, Winter Counts and Wisdom Corner.

Left to Right: Patrick Millikin, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Barbara Peters

David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Did everything go smoothly transportation-wise? Getting there was fine. The return trip home was a different story, but you'll have to wait for the next weekly link round-up to get the scoop!

Wisdom Corner by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

 

First Line: I surveyed the wreckage around Wisdom Corner.

In a promise to his partner, Marie, who is running for a position on the tribal council, Virgil Wounded Horse has been working on putting his past behind him. No more work as a hired vigilante on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. No more smoking. No more drinking. Not everyone has been happy with his decision to stop dispensing justice, but Virgil has persevered... until a beloved member of the community is murdered.

Forced to return to the job, Virgil finds that the victim was threatened by a street gang from a neighboring reservation, and a shady politician who will stop at nothing to gain more power may have something to do with the murder, too.

With the stakes growing higher by the day, Virgil needs to find the killer as quickly as possible because the lives of those he loves are at stake.

~

Back in 2021, I highly recommended Weiden's first Virgil Wounded Horse mystery, Winter Counts, and I'm happy to say that his second, Wisdom Corner, is every bit as good. 

The author puts readers right in the heart of the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations. He weaves fascinating bits of Native American history into his story, like the Carlyle Indian School football team, and shows us all how Indian boarding schools and the proven inequality of the American criminal justice system have made their marks on Native lives. Native American culture and delicious food are also part of this rich tapestry.

But any fictional tapestry is incomplete without an engaging cast of characters, and Wisdom Corner has that, too. Virgil's struggle to have a more acceptable lifestyle is real, and his partner, Marie, does everything she can to help him. Marie's fight for a seat on the tribal council is only one of the ways she shows how much she cares for the people on the reservation. Virgil's nephew, Nathan, is a high schooler trying to have a meaningful life on the reservation-- which is extremely difficult to do for any young person there. I think my favorite new character was Rose Charging Cloud, the chief of police for the Rosebud Sioux tribe. Being Black, Native, and female, she's had a tough road to her job. At first, I didn't like her, but she certainly grew on me. 

Once again, as in Winter Counts, the bad guy was very easy for me to spot, but there was some excellent misdirection steering readers toward other suspects. If you enjoy learning about other cultures in a propulsive mystery populated with vivid characters, I highly recommend Wisdom Corner, but I will say that you should really read Winter Counts first. (Why settle for one great read when you can have two?)

Wisdom Corner by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

eISBN: 9780062969002

Ecco Books © 2026

eBook, 320 pages

Native American Mystery, #2 Virgil Wounded Horse

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

First Line: I leaned back in the seat of my old Ford Pinto, listening to the sounds coming from the Depot, the reservation's only tavern.

 

Virgil Wounded Horse skates along by working an endless variety of temporary jobs, but his real occupation is as an enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When the American legal system denies any Lakota on the reservation justice, they can hire Virgil to dispense his own-- painful and memorable-- brand of punishment.

Then heroin makes its way to the reservation and threatens Virgil's only family, his fourteen-year-old nephew, Nathan. Now it's personal, and Virgil enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend to learn where the drugs are coming from and how to make them stop. It's a journey that will force Virgil to face his own demons and to reclaim his Native identity.

~

As a rule, I avoid crime fiction involving drugs, but something told me that Winter Counts would be different. I was right. One of the greatest tools in a writer's arsenal is voice, and the voice of Virgil Wounded Horse immediately drew me into this story. You wouldn't think that a character whose main occupation is beating people to a pulp would interest me, but Virgil isn't your stereotypical violent musclebound oaf. No, Virgil has a strong moral compass which is easily seen when he's offered $5,000 to do a job for a member of the tribal council. $5,000 is more than Virgil makes in a year, but Virgil doesn't jump at the chance to earn all that money because the entire situation doesn't "smell right" to him.

Virgil, his teenage nephew Nathan, and Virgil's ex-girlfriend Marie show the effects of reservation life on three different types of people. Virgil represents what can happen to a poorly educated person on the reservation. Nathan shows us the dangers of reservation life for the young, and educated Marie shows us how many Lakota are trying to improve life on the reservation. All three characters are well-drawn and utterly believable.

Not only did I find myself immersed in the story, but Winter Counts was also a learning experience for me. I had an idea that the American legal system did Native Americans no favors, but I hadn't realized just how abysmally the law treats them. It should not have come as such a surprise. But the law wasn't the only area in which I learned new things. Winter Counts is rich in Lakota history, spirituality, culture, and food. (By the way, do not call the Lakota "Sioux"-- it's another one of those Caucasian derogatory terms.)

The only thing that kept this book from being one of my Best Reads of the year was the fact that, for a mystery, the identity of the chief bad guy and other elements were much too obvious. But with a character like Virgil and the other riches that the author serves up in Winter Counts, that's a small complaint indeed. I highly recommend this book, and I look forward to Weiden's next novel.

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

eiSBN: 9780062968968

Ecco Books © 2020

eBook, 336 pages

 

Standalone Thriller, Native American mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.