Man Found Dead in Park by Margaret Coel

 

First Line: Catherine tapped the brakes and turned into a street filled with SUVs, black-and-white police cars, yellow and red lights flashing, and an ambulance idling on the side.

 

Journalist Catherine McLeod finds herself investigating the death of a man found in a park in a Native American neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. No one in the neighborhood is talking to the police, but-- due to McLeod's Arapaho heritage-- she does find someone willing to say just enough to get her started.

 

What she doesn't realize is that she's going to find herself in Wyoming's Wind River Reservation and in conflict with Mexican drug cartels.

 

~

 

I've been slowly savoring Margaret Coel's Wind River mysteries featuring Catholic priest John O'Malley and Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden and felt it was high time I met journalist Catherine McLeod in the novella, Man Found Dead in Park. I'm glad I did. Coel is a magician when it comes to blending story, character, landscape, and culture into a reading experience that I simply can't resist.

The two main characters in this novella are McLeod, an investigative journalist in Denver. An Arapaho, Catherine was raised by a white couple from the age of five, and she wants to learn more about her heritage. Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden uses the white man's laws to help her people. Both are strong, sympathetic characters who make a good team working to solve a mystery involving how Mexican drug cartels have moved onto reservations.

If you're already a fan of Margaret Coel's writing, you'll enjoy this fast-paced story. If you're new to this writer, you'll find Man Found Dead in Park to be an excellent stepping stone to both the mysteries featuring Catherine McLeod and the Wind River series with Holden and O'Malley. You have some excellent reading ahead of you, especially if you enjoy writers like Tony Hillerman.

Man Found Dead in Park by Margaret Coel

ASIN: B07FR2JPLJ

A.S.A.P. Publishing © 2018

eBook, 165 pages

 

Novella

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

The Spirit Woman by Margaret Coel

First Line: Father John O'Malley pulled up the collar of his jacket and dipped the brim of his cowboy hat against the hard wind whirling little pellets of snow into the air.

Legend has it that Sacajawea, the Native American woman who helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition through the vast American wilderness, is buried on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. A college professor and longtime friend of Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden has disappeared while searching for documented evidence of that legend. 

Holden and Father John O'Malley become increasingly concerned when her missing friend is linked to another female historian who also vanished on the reservation while researching Sacajawea twenty years ago. The answer to these disappearances may lie in the pages of Sacajawea's hidden memoirs, but someone is willing to do anything to ensure they're never found.

~

It's been much too long since I've picked up one of Margaret Coel's Wind River mysteries, and The Spirit Woman was such a pleasure to read. Coel always seems to find a fascinating aspect of Native American or Western history to build her stories upon, and this time it's Sacajawea, the remarkable teenager who, with a baby strapped to her back and dealing with an abusive husband, guided Lewis and Clark. Proving that Sacajawea survived and died in old age on the Wind River Reservation among her people would be a coup for any historian, but it can't be just any proof. Historians want written documented evidence. Oral histories will not do. Rumors of Sacajawea's written memoirs are a magnet for both female college professors who have disappeared on the reservation.

The subject of abusive relationships is a major theme in The Spirit Woman, but for those readers who may find the subject too distressing, rest assured that Coel never resorts to any sort of graphic violence. It's what living under such circumstances can do to women that is the author's focus, and she deftly weaves this into the story.  

The whodunit was easy for me to deduce, but then I don't read mysteries just to see how good I am at solving crimes. For me, characterization and setting mean even more, and Coel's series has both in abundance. There's the attraction between Father John O'Malley and attorney Vicky Holden. There's how residents of the reservation react to a historian nosing around and asking questions. But even more important, there's the fact that O'Malley's boss has decided that it's time for O'Malley to move on to a different parish. His replacement shows up almost before O'Malley has a chance to hang up the phone. John is highly respected on the reservation. How are the people going to react to his leaving? The actions of the elders should make you smile. 

One of the things that kept me glued to the pages was trying to figure out how O'Malley got to stay. Let's face it... this is the sixth book in a twenty-book series, and they're all called Wind River mysteries. Father John has to stay, right? I was happy to see that my solution wasn't the right one (not that it was violent or anything, just wrong).

This is a series to savor, particularly if you love intelligent writing. The characters and the setting sing. What readers can learn about reservation life and the West is fascinating. If you haven't sampled the Wind River mysteries, I highly recommend them. Due to character development, I would suggest that you begin with the first book, The Eagle Catcher. It will be the start of a beautiful reading relationship.

The Spirit Woman by Margaret Coel

ISBN: 0425180905

Berkley Prime Crime © 2000

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

 

Native American mystery, #6 Wind River mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Paperback Swap

Being Appreciated at The Poisoned Pen

A week ago, Denis and I headed to The Poisoned Pen for their Customer Appreciation Party. Since this was a Saturday, Denis had to request the day off, so you know he was looking forward to it. This was a party, not an author event; there'd be plenty of food, drink, swag bags, and Craig Johnson, Margaret Coel, and William Kent Krueger were going to be there to party with us (and sign a few books, too). As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw that a small section of it had been roped off, and tables, chairs, tablecloths, and flowers were rapidly being brought out. (We showed up unfashionably early to make sure we got a parking spot for our vehicle and a couple for our behinds. We know how these authors can fill up the bookstore with fans!)

We were right; the bookstore filled up quickly, and author Rhys Bowen made an appearance, too, which made the party even more special. It was fun to hear the buzz when the authors walked into the bookstore. This is going to be more of a pictorial blog post since it wasn't a formal author event, and that means that I don't have much more to say.

I do feel slightly guilty about not saying more than hello to Bowen, Coel, and Krueger, but I feel that I had an excellent reason for not doing so. The second Craig walked into the store, people started crowding around him with their stories and their books. Guess where he asked to sit in order to chat and sign? The small table where Denis and I were seated! Boy howdy, I wasn't about to turn loose of my ringside seat-- would you?

Let the festivities commence!

L to R: William Kent Krueger, Barbara Peters, Margaret Coel, Craig Johnson

Plenty of nibbles

Susan (L) tending the bar

Partying outside. Can you spot Kent Krueger?

Can you spot Margaret Coel? The tall man on the left is her husband.

Early birds waiting for the stars.

Kent Krueger signing books.

The buzz grew when these three appeared. Rhys Bowen is on the right with Krueger's hand on her arm. Coel is in front of Barbara Peters, who has her back to us.

Even Barbara Peters (L) is getting into social media.

Oh oh... I've been spotted by the man in the hat!

Craig Johnson getting writer's cramp.

Craig Johnson

Craig was looking even slimmer than he did the last time I saw him, and I found out why. He's always wanted to go on a mule ride down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and he learned that everyone has to weigh in the night before. Fully clothed, including hat, boots, and sunglasses, 200 pounds is the weight limit. "I haven't weighed 200 pounds since I was in high school!" Craig told us. This past Tuesday night Craig weighed in at 195 pounds, and I couldn't help but remember that he'd said, "When I get back up to the top, there's a pizza and a beer waiting with my name on 'em!" I'm looking forward to finding out if he enjoyed the ride, the pizza, and the beer.

Those red bags are the swag bags every customer received. An ARC & all sorts of goodies were within!

The yellow bag contained these books. Don't mind the vertigo-inducing angle of the photo!

Denis and I had so much fun. In fact, I'm still smiling about it!

The Lost Bird by Margaret Coel

First Line: He was late.

There's a first time for everything. Father John O'Malley finally has an assistant who actually requested to be there with him on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Father Joseph had been there several years ago, and most of the Arapaho remember him well. But with the good comes the unthinkable: Father John is shot dead, and since he was driving Father John's old Toyota, Father John is convinced that the bullet was meant for him. 

Consumed with anger and guilt, he is determined to find the killer, and along the way he teams up with Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden. When they discover that Father John had ties to one of Vicky's cases, they know there's no time to waste.

If you love crime fiction with a strong Native American element and you haven't read Margaret Coel's Wind River mysteries, I urge you to get your hands on them and start reading. (They're best read in order, so begin with The Eagle Catcher.) I learned about them while attending an author event in which Coel appeared with William Kent Krueger. I got the first book in the series, and I haven't looked back since.

Coel is a wonderful stylist. The Wyoming landscape, the history of the area, the characters, the mysteries, and the Arapaho culture are all woven into seamless narratives that are difficult to put down. Everything she writes has such a ring of truth to it, and so much heart that readers learn the Arapaho Way whether or not they realize it. 

At the heart of The Lost Bird is a heartbreaking subject that's dealt with honestly and with great sensitivity. As the story unfolds so do more facets of the characters' lives. Father John and Vicky both have emotional revelations to deal with, and Father John also has a surprise visit from his niece Megan which will also cause him great soul-searching. 

There are always many layers to these Wind River mysteries, but Coel is the type of writer who keeps a smooth pace while never wasting a word. It's taking me a while to get through this series, but that's my plan. I aim to savor each and every book... and to mourn when I finally read the last installment, Winter's Child.
 

The Lost Bird by Margaret Coel

ISBN: 0425170306

Berkley © 2000

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Native American Mystery, #5 Wind River Reservation mystery

Rating: A

Source: Paperback Swap 


 

September 2016 New Mystery Releases!

It's almost impossible for me to believe that summer's almost over. Of course it does linger longer here in the Sonoran Desert, but it's still my favorite time of year. At least I have travel plans to help keep my mind off the waning of the warmth.

I also have new books to keep me occupied. I always have my eyes peeled for the newest in crime fiction, and these are my picks from those books being released throughout the month of September. They are grouped according to their release dates, and each entry contains all the information you'll need to find them at all your favorite "book procurement sites." Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

Happy Reading!

=== September 6 ===  

Title: Santorini Caesars

Author: Jeffrey Siger

Series: #8 in the Andreas Kaldis police procedural series set in locations throughout Greece

ISBN: 9781464206016

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Hardcover, 304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "When a young demonstrator is publicly singled out and assassinated by highly trained killers in the heart of protest-charged Athens, Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis is convinced the killing was meant not to take out a target, but as a message. A message from whom? To whom? And why?

Kaldis’ search for answers leads him and his team to the breathtakingly beautiful island of Santorini, heralded in legend as the lost island of Atlantis, and to eavesdrop on a hush-hush gathering of Greece’s top military leaders looking to come up with their own response to the overwhelming crises and uncertainties their country faces.

Is it a coup d’état, or something else? Greece is no stranger to violence upending duly elected governments and memories of the nation’s last junta dictatorship years still burn in the minds of all who lived through the Regime of the Colonels. The answer is by no means clear, but as suspects emerge and international intrigues evolve, the threat of another, far more dramatic assassination grows ever more likely―as does the realization that only Kaldis can stop it.

But at what price? Greece’s government is in chaos, its goals and leadership are suspect, and Kaldis is forever at odds with its methods. Life is not the same, nor is it likely to return to better days any time soon. With a new child on the way, and their young son coming face-to-face with the harsh nature of the world around him, Kaldis and his wife wonder if carrying on the fight matters anymore.

It is a time for testing character, commitment, and the common good. And for saving the nation from chaos."  

Title: What Gold Buys
Author: Ann Parker
Series: #5 in the historical Silver Rush series set in Leadville, Colorado
ISBN: 9781464206238
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Hardcover, 408 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Autumn 1880 in the Rocky Mountains brings frost, snow, and the return of Silver Queen Saloon owner Inez Stannert to Leadville, Colorado.

In this silver rush boomtown, those who are hungry for material riches seek their fortunes in precious metals. Others, hungry for spiritual relief, seek to pierce the veil between life and death with the help of fortunetellers, mediums, and occultists. Deep in the twisted byways of Leadville’s Stillborn Alley, soothsayer Drina Gizzi awaits the promised arrival of her benefactor, the mysterious Mr. Brown. When she is found murdered, strangled with a set of silver and gold corset laces, no one seems to care except the three who find her body―Inez, her lover Reverend Sands, and Drina’s young daughter, Antonia. The mystery surrounding Drina’s death deepens when her body vanishes without a trace.

As Inez and Antonia band together to seek out Drina’s killer, they unearth disturbing evidence of underground resurrectionists, long-held grievances, and white-hot revenge. Meanwhile, Inez’s husband, Mark Stannert, true to his word that he only “plays to win,” contrives to drive Inez and Sands apart, gambling that he can convince her to abandon her plans for divorce. But what can gold buy, after all? A new life? Freedom from the past? Truth and justice for those murdered and unmourned? Or a final passage for Inez and Antonia into an unmarked grave and the world of the dead?

And what of Mr. Brown, whose missing presence hovers over all, like a spirit from beyond?"

Title: Downfall
Author: J.A. Jance
Series: #17 in the Sheriff Joanna Brady series set in Bisbee, Arizona
ISBN: 9780062297716
Publisher: William Morrow
Hardcover, 400 pages

Synopsis: "Arizona sheriff Joanna Brady returns in this outstanding new mystery set in the beautiful desert country of the Southwest.
With a baby on the way, sudden deaths in the family from which to recover, a re-election campaign looming, and a daughter heading off for college, Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady has her hands full when a puzzling new case hits her department, demanding every resource she has at her disposal.
Two women have fallen to their deaths from a small nearby peak, referred to by Bisbee locals as Geronimo. What’s the connection between these two women? Is this a case of murder/suicide or is it a double homicide? And if someone else is responsible, is it possible that the perpetrator may, even now, be on the hunt for another victim?" 

Title: Winter's Child
Author: Margaret Coel
Series: #20 in the Wind River mystery series set in Wyoming
ISBN: 9780425280324   
Publisher: Berkley
Hardcover, 304 pages

Synopsis: "In the midst of a blizzard, Myra and Eldon Little Shield found an abandoned baby on their doorstep and brought her inside. Five years later, no one has come back to claim the little girl now known as Mary Anne Little Shield. But now that she’s old enough to start school, her foster parents fear social services will take her—a white child—away from them.

Determined to adopt Mary Anne, the Little Shields hire lawyer Clint Hopkins, who wants Vicky as cocounsel on the case. But before their meeting can take place, a black truck deliberately runs Hopkins down in the street.

Enlisting Father John to help investigate who would kill to stop the child’s adoption, Vicky unravels a connection between the five-year-old girl and a missing alcoholic Arapaho wanted for robbery—only to uncover one of the darkest secrets in Wind River’s history…"  

Title: The Homeplace
Author: Kevin Wolf
Standalone set on the eastern Colorado plains
ISBN: 9781250103161 
Publisher: Minotaur Books  
Hardcover, 272 pages

Synopsis: "Chase Ford was the first of four generations of Ford men to leave Comanche County, Colorado. For Chase, leaving saved the best and hid the worst. But now, he has come home. His friends are right there waiting for him. And so are his enemies.

Then the murder of a boy, a high school basketball star just like Chase, rocks the small town. When another death is discovered―one that also shares unsettling connections to him―law enforcement’s attention turns towards Chase, causing him to wonder just what he came home to.

A suspenseful, dramatic crime novel, The Homeplace captures the stark beauty of life on the Colorado plains." 

=== September 8 ===

Title: The Question of the Felonious Friend

Author: E.J. Copperman (AKA Jeffrey Cohen)

Series: #3 in the Asperger's mysteries set in New Jersey

ISBN:  9780738743516

Publisher: Midnight Ink

Paperback, 288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "It’s been one year, two weeks, and three days since Samuel Hoenig opened the doors of Questions Answered. The personality traits of his Asperger’s Syndrome help him maintain objectivity―a critical component of his business’s continuing success. 

But when Tyler Clayton, a young man who also has Asperger’s, asks if a store clerk is truly his friend, Samuel, for the first time, can’t bear to give an objective answer. It’s a dicey situation that only gets worse when one of the key players ends up dead. Resolving to do the right thing, Samuel, with help from his associate Ms. Washburn, wades into the murky waters of friendship, and the answer he finds may be a revelation to himself most of all."   

=== September 13 ===

Title: An Obvious Fact

Author: Craig Johnson

Series: #12 in the Sheriff Walt Longmire series set in Wyoming  

ISBN: 9780525426943

Publisher: Viking

Hardcover, 336 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "In the midst of the largest motorcycle rally in the world, a young biker is run off the road and ends up in critical condition. When Sheriff Walt Longmire and his good friend Henry Standing Bear are called to Hulett, Wyoming—the nearest town to America's first national monument, Devils Tower—to investigate, things start getting complicated. As competing biker gangs; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; a military-grade vehicle donated to the tiny local police force by a wealthy entrepreneur; and Lola, the real-life femme fatale and namesake for Henry's '59 Thunderbird (and, by extension, Walt's granddaughter) come into play, it rapidly becomes clear that there is more to get to the bottom of at this year's Sturgis Motorcycle Rally than a bike accident. After all, in the words of Arthur Conan Doyle, whose Adventures of Sherlock Holmes the Bear won't stop quoting, 'There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.'"  

Title: Stalking Ground

Author: Margaret Mizushima

Series: #2 in the Timber Creek K-9 series set in mountains of Colorado

ISBN: 9781629538334 

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Hardcover, 320 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "When Deputy Ken Brody's sweetheart goes missing in the mountains outside Timber Creek, Mattie Cobb and Robo are called to search. But it's mid-October and a dark snow storm is brewing over the high country--and they're already too late. By the time they find her body, the storm has broken and the snow is coming down hard.

While Brody hikes down to bring back the forensics team and veterinarian Cole Walker gathers supplies to protect them from the storm, Mattie and Robo find themselves alone, guarding the gravesite overnight in the dead of the early winter. And that's only the first long, dark night in a series of them, because as their investigation develops, Mattie, Robo, Brody, and Cole find themselves in the middle of the killer's stalking ground--with no way out unless they can catch a predator more deadly than any natural threat." 

Title: Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions

Author: Mario Giordano

Series: #1 in the Auntie Poldi amateur sleuth series set in Sicily

ISBN: 9781908524690 

Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press

Paperback, 320 pages

Synopsis: "This is the first novel in a charming new mystery series set in Sicily and laced with Italian sensuality and humor. It features an amateur sleuth, the sassy and foul-mouthed Auntie Poldi.

Recently widowed Poldi moves to Sicily in order to quietly drink herself to death with a sea view, but fate intervenes. When she finds the corpse of a young man on the beach, his face blown off with a sawn-off shotgun, she becomes a potential suspect in his murder case. Poldi soon falls for the gorgeous Commissario Montana who has been assigned to lead the case. They form an investigative—and romantic—partnership. The delightful details of this romance, and the extreme awkwardness of Poldi's retelling it to her mortified nephew, are some of the novel's many high points.

Sicily, a vivid backdrop, is an island of people obsessed with food. They talk passionately about which remote village produces the best olives, pistachio ice cream, oyster mushrooms, mandarins, and marzipan, and about which restaurant serves the best pasta al nero di sepia or canolli a la crema di ricotta. And there is never a direct reference to the mafia ("an invention of those fascists in the North"), even when confronted with murders committed with sawn-off shotguns.

Mario Giordano, the son of Italian immigrants, was born in Munich in 1963 and studied psychology at the University of Düsseldorf. He writes novels, books for adolescents, and screenplays. He lives in Cologne. Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions is his first mystery novel." 

Title: Sun, Sand, Murder

Author: John Keyse-Walker

Standalone police procedural set in the British Virgin Islands

ISBN:  9781250088291

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 288 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "As a Special Constable, Teddy Creque is the only police presence on the remote, sun-drenched island of Anegada, nestled in the heart of the British Virgin Islands. In all his years on the job, Teddy has never considered the possibility that he might have to address an actual crime on his peaceful island. That is, until he receives a hysterical call about a dead man on the beach. Indeed, Teddy is shocked to discover Paul Kelliher, a biologist who traveled to the island every winter for research, lying dead on the sands of the island’s most remote beach, killed by a single shot to the head. And when the BVI’s “real police” task Teddy with informing Kelliher’s nearest kin of his death, Teddy makes an even more surprising discovery: there’s no record that Paul Kelliher ever existed. Suddenly Teddy’s routine life is thrown into tumult as he tries to track a killer―against his boss’s wishes―while balancing his complicated family life, three other jobs, and the colorful characters populating the island around him.

Written with a wry, witty narrative voice and a plot full of twists and turns, John Keyse-Walker’s Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning debut is a pure delight."

Title: Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness

Author: David Casarett

Series: #1 in the Ethical Chiang Mai Detective Agency series set in Thailand

ISBN: 9780316270632

Publisher: Redhook

Paperback, 368 pages

Synopsis: "Meet Ladarat Patalung - the first and only nurse detective in Thailand.

Two nights ago, a young woman brought her husband into the emergency room of the Sriphat Hospital in Thailand, where he passed away. A guard thinks she remembers her coming in before, but with a different husband - one who also died.

Ladarat Patalung, for one, would have been happier without a serial murderer-if there is one -- loose in her hospital. Then again, she never expected to be a detective in the first place.

And now, Ladarat has no choice but to investigate...

The first novel in a captivating new series by David Casarett, M.D." 

=== September 27 ===

Title: A March to Remember

Author: Anna Loan-Wilsey

Series: #5 in the Hattie Davish historical series set in the 1890s in various locations throughout the United States

ISBN: 9781617737282  

Publisher: Kensington Books

Paperback, 304 pages

Synopsis: "Traveling secretary Hattie Davish is taking her singular talents to Washington, D.C., to help Sir Arthur Windom-Greene research his next book. But in the winding halls of the nation’s capital, searching for the truth can sometimes lead to murder . . .

Hattie is in her element, digging through dusty basements, attics, and abandoned buildings, not to be denied until she fishes out that elusive fact. But her delightful explorations are dampened when she witnesses a carriage crash into a carp pond beneath the shadow of the Washington Monument. Alarmingly, one of the passengers flees the scene, leaving the other to drown. The incident only heightens tensions brought on by the much publicized arrival of “Coxey’s Army,” thousands of unemployed men converging on the capital for the first ever organized “march” on Washington. When one of the marchers is found murdered in the ensuing chaos, Hattie begins to suspect a sinister conspiracy is at hand. As she expands her investigations into the motives of murder and closes in on the trail of a killer, she is surprised and distraught to learn that her research will lead her straight to the highest levels of government . . ." 

It's certainly a bumper crop of good'uns in September, isn't it? There are the tried and true (no one stand between me and books featuring two of my favorite sheriffs, Joanna Brady and Walt Longmire) as well as some intriguing new voices. I think of the new ones, I'm most interested in Giordano's Auntie Poldi (will she run into Inspector Montalbano there in Sicily?) and Casarett's Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness. 

How about you? Which ones of my picks tickled your fancy the most? Inquiring minds would absolutely, positively love to know!