The Drowning Man (A Wind River Reservation Mystery) - Hardcover

Coel, Margaret

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0425211711 ISBN 13: 9780425211717

Publisher: Berkley Hardcover, 2006

Synopsis

In Margaret Coel's latest Wind River Reservation mystery, Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley find themselves immersed in the dark underbelly of the illegal market for Indian relics.

The Arapahos call it "The Drowning Man"-an ancient petroglyph depicting the haunting image of a human figure struggling under water. A priceless artifact to the tribe, the sacred object is worth a quarter of a million dollars to the thieves who took it.

After receiving the ransom demand, Father John is determined to uncover the identity of the culprits and recover the petroglyph. The theft is nearly identical to an unsolved seven-year-old case involving another stolen petroglyph-and manslaughter. Vicky joins Father John to piece together the events of the past seven years. But their quest will put them in the path of a relentless killer who will stop at nothing to remain unknown.

About this title

About the Author

Margaret Coel is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of The Thunder Keeper, The Spirit Woman, The Lost Bird, The Story Teller, The Dream Stalker, The Ghost Walker, The Eagle Catcher, and several works of nonfiction. She has also authored many articles on the people and places of the American West. Her work has won national and regional awards. Her first John O'Malley mystery, The Eagle Catcher, was a national bestseller, garnering excellent reviews from the Denver Post, Tony Hillerman, Jean Hager, Loren D. Estleman, Stephen White, Earlene Fowler, Ann Ripley and other top writers in the field. A native of Colorado, she resides in Boulder.

Reviews

At the start of bestseller Coel's appealing 12th mystery (after 2005's Eye of the Wolf), the people of Wyoming's Wind River Reservation are devastated when an ancient petroglyph, the Drowning Man, vanishes from a wall of sacred Red Cliff Canyon. An Indian messenger tells Fr. John O'Malley, the pastor of St. Francis Mission, to inform the Shoshones and Arapahos they must pay a $250,000 ransom for the rock art, which was chiseled off the wall. Father John obliges, but also alerts the FBI. Meanwhile, attorney Vicky Holden decides to represent Travis Birdsong, who's serving time for killing his alleged partner in a glyph theft seven years earlier. Enraged locals, who believe Travis didn't get a fair trial, want Vicky's firm to concentrate on keeping a logging company from desecrating Red Cliff Canyon. Father John's conflicted feelings for Vicky, who's not sure she wants to stay with her partner, Adam Lone Eagle, and the arrival of a retired pedophile priest at the mission help keep the emotional temperature high. (Sept.)
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On a beautiful May Wyoming morning, a stranger contacts Father John O'Malley, head of the Jesuit mission on the Arapaho Wind River Reservation. The Drowning Man, a cherished petroglyph, has been stolen, and the stranger wants to ransom it to the tribe. Meanwhile, attorney Vicki Holden reopens the case of an Arapaho convicted of murdering his friend. O'Malley and Holden discover their cases are linked and join forces. This twelfth Reservation mystery continues to display the satisfying hallmarks of the series: well-drawn characters, beautiful descriptions of Wyoming, an edgy air of suspense, and a difficult mystery. Along with a revealing look at the black market in artifacts, Coel develops subplots concerning Holden's relationship with lover and business-partner attorney Adam Lone Eagle, the complex issue of wilderness development, and the even more complex matter of pedophile priests. One of the best of several mystery series dealing with Native American issues and characters. John Rowen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0425211711
• ISBN 13: 9780425211717
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336