Bootheel Man - Hardcover

Morley Swingle

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0979871433 ISBN 13: 9780979871436

Publisher: Southeast Missouri State University Press, 2007

Synopsis

When Allison Culbertson takes the case of Joey Red Horse, an Osage Indian charged with stealing a sacred artifact from the Heartland Mound Builder Museum, she finds herself in the middle of a courtroom battle pitting contemporary American Indians against a private museum over legal rights to the bones of 'Bootheel Man,' a Native American who lived, fought, and loved Cahokia and Southeast Missouri in the year 1050. Morley Swingle combines the historical mystery of the disappearance of 30,000 souls who inhabited Cahokia ten centuries ago with a contemporary murder mystery and legal thriller in a suspenseful story combining history, law, and fiction.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

"This exciting and clever tale adeptly entertains and educates about the serious and dangerous problem of desecration of sacred tribal cultural items. Attorney Swingle takes us from a dramatic present-day crime, back in time to 1050 Cahokia to introduce readers to the artist Gazing Woman and chunkey-player Thunder Runner, then back again to the present and the indigenous people who try to protect ancestral remains. Learning about the passion and tenacity of the Old Ones while they were a living man and woman, rather than simply as 'artifacts' to be studied, displayed, or sold on the black market, elevates the story to an important, personal level.”

- Devon Mihesuah, Cora Lee Beers Price Professor, University of Kansas

“Move over Tony Hillerman--Morley Swingle has transformed the contemporary over deep American history into a page-turning tale that I couldn't put down. As a professional museum archaeologist, I found Bootheel Man to be a nuanced appreciation of the reburial and repatriation issues now playing out across this country. Swingle is a true storyteller. The conflicts are real and so are Swingle's characters--no wooden Indians here.” - David Hurst Thomas, Curator of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History

About the Author:

Morley Swingle is the prosecuting attorney of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. He has prosecuted nearly 70 homicide cases and tried over 120 jury trials, some featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Dateline, and Forensic Files. His historical mystery/thriller The Gold of Cape Girardeau, winner of the 2005 Governor's Book Award from the Missouri Humanities Council was praised as 'absorbing courtroom drama' by Elmore Leonard. His true crime/humor Scoundrels to the Hoosegow: Perry Mason Moments and Entertaining Cases from the Files of a Prosecuting Attorney was hailed as 'engrossing' and 'highly recommended' by Vincent Bugliosi.

About this edition

• Publisher: Southeast Missouri State University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0979871433
• ISBN 13: 9780979871436
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 424