The Drowning Man (A Wind River Reservation Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]

Margaret Coel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2007

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 307 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (September 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425217647
• ISBN-13: 978-0425217641
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #117,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret Coel is the author of four nonfiction books and 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent addition to an excellent series, September 21, 2006

By 

BJ - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Drowning Man (A Wind River Reservation Mystery) (Hardcover)

The Drowning Man is an excellent addition to the Vicky Holden and Father O'Malley mysteries. Each book in Margaret Coel's series is original and tightly plotted, and her characters are very real with their human frailties and struggles. Even the characters with major flaws (for instance Vicky's abusive ex-husband) have good traits as well as bad. She brings the Arapaho culture to life, and her understanding and respect for the people are evident.

In the latest of the series, sacred petroglyphs have been stolen, and an Arapaho who has been in prison for seven years for murder may be able to shed light on the desecration. Coel makes the ancient `glyphs come to life, and I have a new appreciation for them after reading this book, which turns out to be educational as well as entertaining.

After twelve books, I was hoping Vicky would find a bit of happiness and no longer be "woman alone," especially since there are two strong, complex, and very appealing men in her life. I'm afraid neither the handsome priest (her soul mate) nor the gorgeous Lakota lawyer (every woman's dream lover) is destined to walk into the sunset with Vicky. Now I will spend the next year hoping I'm wrong about that and looking forward to the next installment of what is one of my favorite series.

All series are better if read in order, so try Eagle Catcher and Ghost Walker first. If you do, I'm sure you'll want to read all of them.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific mystery, September 9, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Drowning Man (A Wind River Reservation Mystery) (Hardcover)

On the Wind River Reservation, every Arapaho is stunned by the theft of THE DROWNING MAN. The ancient petroglyph is considered a sacred tribal heirloom of immense value as the spirits etched the image of the hunter drowning in water. The thieves send their ransom demand of a quarter of a million dollars to have the artifact returned or else watch it vanish on the black market.

Father John O'Malley is outraged by this desecration and vows to investigate until he uncovers the identity of the thieves and returns the icon back to the tribe. Realizing the parallels to another stolen petroglyph seven years ago in which the item was never recovered and allegedly one of the felons Travis Birdsong killed his partner Raymond Trueblood, attorney Vicky Holden joins Father John on his inquiries because she believes that Travis was innocent of the robbery and the homicide. Neither is prepared to encounter a killer who will murder anyone who threatens him or his lucrative business.

This is a terrific mystery as Margaret Coel showcases a major international issue involving illegal selling of stolen contraband in this case a priceless religious artifact from Native Americans. The investigation is excellent as the lead pair does a fabulous job following the clues while the culprit waits for the right moment to eliminate them. However, what makes this one of the best entries of a strong series is the tribal reaction to the horror of the theft as fans can feel their anguish. Ms. Coel is at her best with this sensitive whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Remembering why we liked these characters in the first place, November 4, 2006

By 

Kristi "all my facts come from fiction" (Eastern Iowa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Drowning Man (A Wind River Reservation Mystery) (Hardcover)

The great thing about this series is that the characters haven't changed. They've grown, but they are still the same fundamental people they were initially, and one can see how they've tried to make themselves fit in better in their world, and in some ways succeeded, and in others, continue to fail.

Vicky is still nosy, still bull-headed about pursuing justice for the under-dog, and still really reckless. Father John is still devout, still in recovery, and still a pragmatic force for good in a place that seems to desperately need him.

The rest of the characters aren't particularly likeable except for most of the Indian elders, but the Native American cultural information, by an author with impressive credentials on the subject, is fascinating.