Death at Rainy Mountain (Tay-Bodal Mystery) [Paperback]

Mardi Oakley Medawar (Author)

Book Description

Series: Tay-Bodal Mystery | Publication Date: January 1, 1998

In 1866, the magnificent Cheyenne Robber was charged with murdering a fellow tribesman - a crime that threatens the unity of the entire Kiowa Nation. Now eccentric healer Tay-bodal must use his unconventional skills to prove the truth behind the murder - and reuinite the divided Kiowa Nation. * Second in the Tay-bodal mystery series. * Medawar, a Cherokee, offers historical insights onto Native American life. * Medawar is the award-winning author of People of the Whistling Waters

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Modern-thinking Kiowa healer Tay-bodal, whose study of anatomy and physiology sets him apart from other tribal doctors in the north of Texas in 1866, is caught up in tribal politics after one of its warriors is murdered. War threatens when handsome Cheyenne Robber, beloved of White Otter, is accused of killing one of her suitors from another clan. Although he had challenged his rival in front of others, Cheyenne Robber swears he didn't kill the man. Chief White Bear, whom the whites call Santana, asks Tay-bodal to help find the true murderer. Breaking tribal tradition, Tay-bodal examines the body of the dead man and discovers that he was strangled and his neck subsequently broken. Recognizing this as a particularly cowardly way to kill, Tay-bodal wonders why any Kiowa would have used it. The healer must break more tribal customs, become a target himself and end up at Fort Sill before he successfully solves the case. Although the pace is slow and her prose often stiff, Medawar, a Cherokee, reveals legendary Native Americans as believable people and offers her readers a comprehensive look at historical Kiowa life and values.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

More than a mystery, Medawar's novel is a beautifully written, life-affirming, heartwarming story full of adventure, humor, and tears. Set in 1866 on the western frontier, the tale concerns Tay-bodal, a Kiowa Indian who has been a relative nobody among his tribesmen. Always an outsider, Tay-bodal has no family and would rather spend time with his healing herbs and potions than attending councils of war. But then the respected and much loved Chief Little Bluff dies, and the Kiowas must come together to name his successor. When Coyote Walking, one of the three candidates for the highly revered position of tribal chief, is brutally murdered, chaos and disorder erupt. Tay-bodal, wiser than he knows, takes on the daunting task of finding out who killed Coyote Walking. His investigation, which is ultimately successful in unmasking the villain, changes his life forever, not only earning him a respected place among his tribesmen but also winning him a beautiful woman, a young son, new friends, and a happiness he thought he could never experience. Medawar has written a cunningly plotted story that is as devilishly funny as it is charmingly told. Tay-bodal is a true, if unsuspecting, hero who proves that love, respect, and wisdom can overcome even the greatest adversity. Masterful and moving, this book makes a fine addition to all collections. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 279 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425161412
• ISBN-13: 978-0425161418
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,725,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most deliciously funny and heartwarming, April 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Death at Rainy Mountain (Hardcover)

Others before me have already conveyed the storyline, so I won't repeat it, but tell you only that if you enjoy reading about American Indian life, written from the viewpoint of an insider, who speaks of his people without self-conscious posturing, attempts to make his people better or worse than they are; if you enjoy a storyteller who finds humor in himself, his situation and in humanity; if you enjoy being immersed in another culture and open to understanding another people's ways, while slowly unraveling a mystery, then you will enjoy Mardi Oakley Medawar's "Death at Rainy Mountain."

This is not a Tony Hillerman style book, which is not to belittle Hillerman, for I love his books immenseley. It is merely to acknowledge that the treatment is very different...but if you enjoy Hillerman because he opens new vistas of understanding to you, then you will enjoy Medawar also.

This book is as much a story of a people,as it is a mystery, as it is a warm, wonderful romance in which Tay-bodal realizes "Being bound to someone you intensely love, somone you trust to love you back, is a man's only true freedom. And it's the one thing any of us ever really owns. Everything else, most especially power, is fleeting."

Tay-bodal is a most engaging and unlikely hero, and joins the ranks of other wonderful characters who have become more real to me with each re-reading than many people living and breathing today.

My only sorrow is that I do not live in his world so that I might one day have the pleasure of sitting across the fire from him; perhaps assist him in his doctoring; perhaps spy on him as he takes his toddler adopted son by the hand and walks him to an appropriate place with lots of scrub trees and as they stand there side by side peeing,instructs him saying "Women don't appreciate men peeing in the doorway." or laugh when he returns with the toddler to where his almost wife, and mother of his soon to be adopted son stands wringing her hands, worried about her son's whereabouts, and listen in on his response to her when she queations where he took the child and why, and how dared he without her permission to which he responds: "Woman, I don't need your permission to go off for a pee with my son."

This author has captured the wit and humor of a man who never lived, who was of a tribe that did, and through him, teaches us that for all our differences, we are all human.

Ms. Medawar is a writer whose talent is to bring laughter, joy and understanding through the medium of fiction, and make this life a more enjoyable experience.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Experience, and Lots of Fun, May 21, 2002

By 

Mick McAllister - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death at Rainy Mountain (Hardcover)

Kiowa author Scott Momaday has suggested that the humorless Indian is a ridiculous stereotype, and Cherokee author Mardi Medawar's Tay-bodal mysteries certainly confirm that view. Both Medawar and her hero have a great sense of fun, and this first novel in a series of four is notable for its refusal to take seriously the cliches of white attitudes toward Indians.

It is also an interesting and challenging mystery set in an important moment of American history, when the tribes of the southern plains were being subjugated by Civil War veterans with nothing better to do. Tay-bodal moves among the great heroes of that era--Satanta, Lone Wolf, Satank--who are for him not only great but uncles and cousins, and men with, if not feet of clay, dirty moccasins.

Read it for the mystery, read it for the history, read it for the fresh look at American Indians. But read it. Good book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical mystery featuring Kiowa protagonist, December 31, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Death at Rainy Mountain (Tay-Bodal Mystery) (Paperback)

The Kiowa Nation has gathered to mourn the passing of principal chief Little Bluff, but the chief's funeral is soon overshadowed by the murder of Coyote Walking, the unpleasant nephew of sub-chief, Kicking Bird. As Kicking Bird and his fellow chieftains jockey for power, Tay-bodal, a non-traditional healer, is called upon to investigate the crime. Tay-bodal searches for the truth through a confused maze of tribal politics as an innocent man's life hangs in the balance and the Kiowa nation trembles on the brink of civil war.

Medawar has done an excellent job of re-creating the world of the 19th century Kiowa without allowing the narrative to get bogged down in historical detail. Her characters are well-drawn individuals--I could see them clearly in my mind's eye. The solution to the mystery remains mysterious until the end of the story, the pacing is excellent, and there is much humor throughout.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes good history and good mysteries. Death at Rainy Mountain is the first book in the Tay-bodal mystery series.