Grandfather Medicine [Paperback]

Hager (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1990

A mystery novel featuring half-Cherokee Police Chief Mitch Bushyhead set against a Cherokee background. First in series.

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author of more than 40 novels, Hager joins the mystery genre with a story set in her native state. Chief Mitchell Bushyhead, half-Cherokee and head of the four-man police force in Bushkin, Okla., gets his first homicide in 10 years when a prominent member of the Cherokee community is murdered. It's something of an event, not only because Bushkin's population is a mere 3000, but also because murder is strictly proscribed by Cherokee tradition and religion. Still, Bushyhead follows all leads and the reader learns much about Cherokee culture. Bushyhead and his assistant, Virgil Rabbit, focus their investigation on the prime suspect, Kingfisher Pigeon, brother of the dead man, who was married to a white woman and estranged from his people. Town leaders and spaced-out derelicts involved with drug trafficking also enter the picture. The momentum of solving the case helps to awaken Bushyhead, a grieving widower until now, to a new interest in his job, and in his daughter's pretty teacher. The prose here is serviceable and the puzzle smoothly concocted and solved.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A neatly crafted mystery." -- Publishers Weekly '89

"An excellent police procedural and a first-rate mystery." -- Library Journal, '89

"An intriguing plot, colorful characters and a likeable lawman." -- Kirkus Reviews, '89

"Jean Hager gives me a journey home to my Oklahoma childhood--not just an intriguing mystery but a clear-eyed evocation of the Cherokee culture." -- Tony Hillerman, '89

"This is Hillerman with an Oklahoma accent." (The Purloined Letter, '89) "A very intricate whodunit." -- Mystery News, '89 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 219 pages
• Publisher: Worldwide Library (October 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373260598
• ISBN-13: 978-0373260591
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,012,981 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Crime Solving the REALLY Old Fashioned Way, May 10, 2001

By 

Bill Henderson (Anaheim CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Grandfather Medicine (Paperback)

Author Jean Hager is Billie Letts (Where The Heart Is) Meets Tony Hillerman. If you're in the mood for a good police procedural, and you're on friendly terms with the landscape of eastern Oklahoma (and its people) you'll like this novel. Mitch Bushyhead is the chief of police of the tiny burg of Buckskin Oklahoma. Although he served on a "big city" police force, he now spends a lot of his time patrolling the quiet streets and country lanes planning his next fishing trip. However, even if recently widowed chief didn't have to find the killer of a celebrated Cherokee artist, he would be busy enough trying to figure out how to raise a teenage daughter as a single father. Not only does the murder of the artist force Bushyhead to pull back the veneer of a sedate small town, but forces him to come to terms with his own heritage (he's half Cherokee). Bushyhead solves this crime the old-fashioned way: keeping his eyes and ears open, as well as his options, as he pokes and prods his way through the Oklahoma back country. His crew of deputies are competent and colorful, but Bushyhead is the one whose job (and life) is on the line.