Dead Soul (Charlie Moon Mysteries) [Hardcover]

James D. Doss (Author)

Book Description

Series: Charlie Moon Mysteries | Publication Date: September 23, 2003

When tribal chairman Oscar Sweetwater asks Charlie Moon to look into the murder of a fellow Ute, Billy Smoke, Charlie agrees, but he doesn't expect to find anything. After all, Billy's boss, U.S. Senator Patch Davidson, nearly died in the ambush that night, too, so the FBI handled the investigation and it's still unsolved. The senator does happen to be Charlie's neighbor, though-their ranches share a fence line-so maybe the senator will be more forthcoming with him than he was with the FBI.

Meanwhile, Charlie's aunt Daisy, an elderly tribal shaman whose visions are looked upon by Charlie with skepticism even when they ring true, has seen a woman desperate for Charlie's help. Daisy begins to badger Charlie to look for her, even though she can't tell him her name, where to look, or why she's in trouble.

All in all, it's shaping up to be another season in which the gentleman rancher spends more time being a reluctant investigator than working on his ranch, helping with the cattle or in the hunt for Two-toes, the bobcat who's been sneaking up on his men at work. And truth be told, he'd rather go after the cat, who doesn't seem as dangerous as Senator Davidson's enemies or Billy Smoke's "business" connections.

James Doss's novels are consistently acclaimed for their combination of tight, suspenseful plotting and lyrical, authentic rendering of Native American themes and images, and Dead Soul is no exception.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A dash of humor and a sprinkling of romance season Doss's eighth Charlie Moon mystery (after 2002's White Shell Woman). The part-time Ute tribal investigator and full-time rancher looks into the death of fellow tribesman Billy Smoke, murdered during an assault that left Billy's high-profile employer, Senator Patch Davidson, permanently crippled. An explosion at a new airport adds to the body count. Meanwhile, Charlie's acid-tongued Aunt Daisy, a shaman and tribal elder, pulls Charlie into more intrigue when her otherworldly visions focus on a missing red-haired campus policewoman. Allan Pearson, Patch's spoiled orphaned nephew, is hiding more than his own insecurity behind his mask of arrogance, while Miss James, Patch's beautiful assistant, seems to be Charlie's fatal attraction. And ranch foreman Henry Buford, formerly with the Defense Intelligence Agency, is clearly a man who would take or give a bullet to defend those who trust him. Despite his good nature and gentle heart, Charlie winds up in plenty of skirmishes, including a slugfest with Half-Ton, a mammoth biker whose entourage later returns with a vengeance. But these guys are the least of his worries. If the killing is ever to stop, Moon must send a certain "dead soul" to his rest.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Doss keeps ringing intriguing changes off the chords of his unusual premise: former Southern Ute police officer Charlie Moon, now a Colorado rancher, solves crimes as a special tribal investigator while sparring with his cantankerous Aunt Daisy, a Ute shaman, who scoffs at Charlie's obstinate refusal to acknowledge the supernatural nature of the universe. This time there is less overt sparring, but the conflict in worldviews remains central to the action. Charlie's investigation of the murder of a tribe member, who was assaulted while chauffeuring a U.S. senator, merges with a possible espionage plot and the disappearance of red-headed girl who seems to be haunting Daisy's dreams. Charlie scoffs his way to solving the various mysteries but not before admitting to himself, in the dark of the night, that Daisy may know more about the world than he does. No, he doesn't believe in ghosts, but "they don't seem to care whether I believe in 'em or not." Hillerman gets the most press, but Doss mixes an equally potent brew of crime and Native American spirituality. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (September 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312317441
• ISBN-13: 978-0312317447
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,185,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

JAMES D. DOSS is the author of twelve Charlie Moon mysteries, two of which were named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly. Originally from Kentucky, he divides his time between Los Alamos and Taos, New Mexico.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Us Living Here in the Middle World, October 12, 2004

By 

J. Davis (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead Soul (Charlie Moon Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've been reading Doss's "Shaman" series since it first appeared in paperback, and it just keeps getting better and better. "Dead Soul" is the best of the series. As a stand-alone work, it is excellent.

I love the joking, sly, tongue-in-cheek diaglogs Charlie Moon has with the other characters. I can see myself carrying one a similar one with him, since I have do have dialogs like that often. I love Doss's unexpected (and non-PC) observations of life - the human carnivores eating the animal cracker herbivores; the poisonous look of junk food, followed by how good it tastes; how close we here in the Middle World actually are to the those other worlds, above and below and just other.

But especially, I love how Doss can get inside a person's head, to examine how faith, hope and belief continue to call to us, no matter how grounded we think we are in this, the workaday Middle World -- and that hearts that truly believe are the same, no matter how different the outer trappings of their belief systems may appear.

And all this with wonderful descriptions of the land of the Southern Utes -- both is this world and the other -- and with a murder mystery that, like one of Charlie Moon's dialogs, talks to us on one level, but leads us along to something completely different.

I will remember the feeling of this book long after I have forgotten the details of the mystery.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Doss gets better and better., November 8, 2003

By 

D. C. Bauman "lover of Native American mysteries" (Clarks Summit, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead Soul (Charlie Moon Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The newest James Doss novel is a very satisfying read. Having read all 8 novels this is the best by far. The first novels featured Scott Paris more than they did Charley Moon. The change to featuring Charlie Moon and the interplay with his aunt Daisy has made the novels more interesting. I enjoy the interplay between Aunt Daisy and Charlie as he tries to live the "modern" Ute way and she walks in the "old" Ute way. Although this novel still maintains the interplay between Aunt Daisy and Charlie, there is a definite movement on Charlie's part to being affected by the ghosts of the past. His night dreams seem to show evidence that the blood of a "Shamaan" runs in his veins. Many of the book jackets have stated that Doss does for the Utes what Tony Hillerman does for the Navajo. This is the first time that I truly believe that this is the case. The combination of Native American mysticism and modern day Ute civilization makes this novel an extremely satisfying read. It is also nice to see Charlie have a bit of romance. I hope the Senator's assistant is a continuing character. I can't wait for the next James Doss novel.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Destroyed by failure to proof the scanned copy, December 9, 2010

By 

Heavy J Reader "photobear4" (Panhandle, NE USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dead Soul (Charlie Moon Mysteries) (Kindle Edition)

I have been a fan of James Doss' work through many many of his works. Dead Soul is no exception to his writing skill and his ability to spin a truly fascinating tale. BUT.. whichever department of Minotaur/Macmillan was responsible for scanning and proofing the scanned copy dropped the ball badly. There was no chapter --among the 40+--that was not without egregious typos. Sometimes there were multiple typos per page. It is obvious that this book was scanned and dumped on the market without even an attempt at proofreading. At first the typos were just there, then they were an irritant, finally they were a total distraction. This was a fine book totally ruined by a slavish belief that optical scanning of a manuscript gives a perfect copy. And it points up the laziness and carelessness of the publishing company who let it find its way to the Kindle market. A 7.99 rip off of a book and an author, both of which deserved much better.