Customer Reviews

Ghost Walker (Arapaho Indian Mysteries)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Ghost Walker was quick and easy reading. As a fan of Tony Hillerman's work and his fascinating Navaho characters, Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, I was interested in how Margaret Coel's work, set on the Wind River Arapaho reservation, would compare. Maybe it wasn't fair to compare. Coel's and Hillerman's styles are totally different, as they should be. Even though they both write about Native Americans on the reservation, every writer is unique, every story is different. Coel's Father John O'Malley is certainly an engaging character, a real, flawed human being like the rest of us. Still, I found Coel's story here to be not quite as engaging as I thought it could have been (thus, 3 stars). I enjoyed the book enough, though, to want to read another in the series, maybe The Dream Stalker.

Margaret Coel is one of the more talented mystery writers out there, but what really makes her stand out is her ability to write with sensitivity about life among the Arapaho. She manages to avoid stereotypes both of "the drunken Indian" and "the noble Indian". But she is also excellent at her descriptions of setting, and gives you a feel for Wyoming. When she described the snowy wind-swept winter landscape of Wyoming, I could see it all clearly in my mind and wanted to turn up the thermostat. I was a little disappointed with the ending, and that is the only reason I wouldn't give this book five stars. But if you like reading about Native Americans, you will love this book.

Margaret Coel's second book weaves an intricate
web involving smuggling and murder on the Arapaho
Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. The primary
characters, a Jesuit priest fighting his personal
battle with alcoholism and an Arapaho attorney
plagued with guilt over abandoning her children
when they were young. Together these two unlikely
detectives investigate the suspicious events that
take place when three white men show up on the
reservation with the attorney's daughter.

From the moment that Father John O'Malley discovers
a body at the side of the road during a blizzard,
the reader becomes part of the story. The characters
and the mysteries they face, pull the reader into
the depths of the book. We become friends with
Father John and Vicky Holden, and eagerly get caught
up in their lives.

This is a very "comfortable"
book to read. Though it is not highly suspenseful,
the story has been told thoroughly and with the
insight of someone who knows the ways of the Arapaho
people. The reader is allowed glimpses in to the
private lives of the characters, and comes away
wanting to know them better.

I gave it an "8"
only because there were times when it seemed to
drag a little.....so its really close to a "9" !!

In this book Father John O'Malley discovers a dead body beside the road. His credibility takes a beating when the police return and the body is gone. At this point, Father John makes it his mission to find the body and discover who has died. When a commercial developer threatens to take over Father O'Malley's mission and turn it into a recreation center, he becomes distraught and is tempted to turn to alcohol, which has been the bane of his existence for many years. Instead, he teams up with Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden, and tries to solve the murder while helping Vicky with her drug-addicted daughter, Susan. This book, while not as compelling as the first book of the series, "The Eagle Catcher", is still a good read.

I just discovered Margaret Coel and love the Fr. O'Mally series. I'm in the process of reading the Ghost Walker, the third book of Margaret's I've read in the last three weeks! I read Native American suspense almost exclusively,(Tony Hillerman, JA Jance, Aimee Thurlo) and was happy to find Margaret'sr books. I'm also a writer and am working on my second Native American book myself. My first is presently under consideration at Avon. It's so difficult to find good Native American mysteries, they're few and far between. Thanks, Margaret for a great series! I'm looking forward to reading more of your books in the future.

This series by Ms. Coel is refreshing because the main characters are not perfect people. They are just like us with doubts and failures and struggles to deal with while solving crimes too. Excellent story telling and the Native American/southwestern flavor is a plus.

This was one of the earlier books in the Wind River Reservation series. Somehow, I missed reading it years ago when I read the rest of the series. Father John and Vicky Holden are very prominent in the entire series. This time out, the mission is up for sale and there is EVIL afoot. Good story.

These audiobooks are called "Dramatic Readings" to differentiate them "narrations". I like the stories, but I find the reading style very difficult to enjoy. Stephanie Brush sounds like she studied at the William Shatner school. I'll continue to tolerate these performances because I enjoy the mysteries and learning about the Arapaho culture.

If you haven't yet read Margaret Coel, you are in for a treat. I got hooked on Elizabeth George and now I am hooked on Margaret Coel. She gives us the same kind of attractive characters and the same kind of authentic plots as George does. Just as George mirrors the world of British aristocracy, so Coel gives us a closeup of life on an Indian reservation. I have been to the Wind River Reservation. Coel captures it perfectly. You will not only love Father O'Mallely; you will love all of the Arapaho Indians you will meet.

Margaret Coel's Father John O'Malley series is a winner. Her characters are strong and realistic, and Father John himself is one of the most endearing sleuths I've come across in this genre for quite some time. In this book Father John and his lawyer friend Vicky become involved with some really bad dudes. They both see that their beloved Wind River Reservation is facing a terrible danger, and it is up to them to avert it. One of the nicest things about these books is the nice mix that Coel pens between the white world and the world of the Reservation. As we read we see that there is some tension there, but these two cultures do mange to coexist together. I can't wait to read the next one.