Customer Reviews

The Lost Bird (A Wind River Reservation Myste)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"The Lost Bird" is the fifth in Margaret Coel's beautifully written series set on the Wind River Arapaho Reservation in Wyoming. Our sleuths are the opera-loving Jesuit priest Father John O'Malley, sent to the remote St. Francis Mission several years ago after a fall into alcoholism, and his friend Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden, divorced and known to her people as Woman Alone. Both are well portrayed, flawed just enough to be human and likable. The story involves the murder of the mission's 72-year-old assistant priest, who has recently returned to the reservation after a 35-year absence; the search for her biological parents by a movie actress who thinks she was born to Arapahos; an unexpected visit from Father John's architect niece, who is troubled about her parentage; and some dark secrets from the past. I think fans of Tony Hillerman are likely to enjoy this series. There's less mysticism here, but these mysteries are steeped in Arapaho culture. Ms. Coel is a historian of the American West, and her novels are well researched. Most important, she knows how to write a good, suspenseful whodunit.

This is the story of another tragic episode involving a Native American tribe. That this probably happened under other circumstances, and happened to more than the Arapaho tribe, cannot be doubted. This is another in a series that has given us insight into tribal life and continues to leave us wanting more. The characters are strong, believable, and you want the best for all of them. The underlying plot--selling tribal babies and telling their parents they died--is heartbreaking. The reunion of one such child with her father made me weep. And Vicki's trial reconciliation with Ben gave me hope. This is a great work, written with deep feeling.

By far the best of the "Father O'Malley/Vicky Holden" series of mysteries, *Lost Bird* takes some startling and very sharp turns in the lives of these fascinating and well-developed characters. While Jesuit priest Father O'Malley and attorney Vicky Holden avoid one another in an attempt to control their dangerous but ever deepening relationship, O'Malley investigates the murder of an elderly priest while Vicky attempts to track down the adoptive origins of a movie star who claims to have been born to Arapaho parents. These two quests, the answers to which have been purposefully buried for decades, raise this novel to the "Can't-put-it-down" level.

If you like the Native American culture you will appreciate this mystery even more. The characters have depth and you can't help but get emotionally involved in their plight. Good from cover to cover.

In this 5th. book of the series, the opera-loving priest, Father John, again teams up with Vicki Holden, an Arapaho attorney, to solve a crime and right the wrongs on the Wind River Reservation. The problems start when a priest who had been at the mission on the reservation several years ago, returns and is murdered. At the same time, two women who are searching for their identity come back to the reservation. One of them is a movie star who has been adopted and who feels that she was born on the Arapaho reservation. The other is Father John's niece who comes to him with questions about her paternity. There is the usual tension and undeniable attraction between Father John and Vicki, and also the presence of Vicki's ex-husband Ben to contend with. This is a good read and will please Margaret Coel fans.

Father Keeena from the St. Francis Mission is shot. A adopted Hollywood actress shows up looking for her family. Thirty-five years ago, in 1964, dozens of newborns died from contaminated water.
What do all these facts have to do with each other? At first, it looks like they are not linked at all, but as Father John tries to solve a murder and Vicky Holden tries to find a family that might have given up its baby, things start to fall into place.
Margaret Coel is a perfect author. She buries the clues all over the place and its a delight to watch Father John and Vicky dig them up, dust them off and try to fit them together. The characters, the places and the plot are all gritty with reality. I'm happy I have continued to read her books and have more to look forward to!

I'm a recent fan of Margaret Coel's mysteries, but this one is my favorite, perhaps because of its theme of adoption and search for roots. A famous actress comes to Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden in search of her birthparents, convinced that she came from the Wind River Reservation. Meanwhile, an elderly priest with no apparent enemies has been killed, and Father O'Malley thinks he was the intended target. Is there a connection between the actress and the priest's death, along with several others?

Margeret Coel captures Arapaho ways of thought and family values, weaving a complex story of intrigue, duty and love. A beautiful work!

Father O'Malley demonstrates his humanity and detective abilities in The Lost Bird. The women in his life add to the challenges of solving murders. His niece arrives unexpectedly after the death of an elderly priest who returned to the Wyoming reservation seemingly to die. There are questions on the Moccasin Trail (Indian gossip-line) about O'Malley's relationships to his red-haired niece and female colleague.

As always, Margaret Coel handles her subject-matter with sensitivity. Her insight into the man behind the cloth is moving, not sensational.

The denouement will satisfy her fans and attract new readers.

I am finding that the books in this series seem to keep getting better and better, and I really enjoyed this one. In it we have Vicky on the trail of some missing babies from 1964, and Father John is trying to find out who killed a semi-retired priest on the reservation. He needs to find out if he was the intended or victim or was it Father Keenan? This mystery takes him back to 1964 when Father Keenan was a young priest on the Wind River Reserve. Vicky and Father John end up working together again to try to unravel the tangled skein of clues. These characters are so realistic that you will find as you read, that you think of them as real. This is also a truly touching story, and shows what life on the reserve and with their extended families is really like.

The idea behind the book is great, but the book itself fails to meet expectations. The description on Native American life seemed superficial and like it had no experience or research behind it. The charachters were good, but the whole book seemed like a rough draft.The story never went into enough detail. It jumped from one event to another without ever spending enough time on each event to interest me.My advice is to skip it.