The Lost Bird (Thorndike Core) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Margaret Coel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2000 | Series: Thorndike Core

Margaret Coel's mysteries "shouldn't be missed by anyone interested in either new trends in mystery writing or contemporary Indian culture. She's a master at both."--Tony Hillerman

After the murder of an elderly priest--Father John O'Malley's assistant on the Wind River Reservation--Father John thinks the bullet was meant for him. Father Joseph had been driving John's old Toyota right before he was killed. Consumed with anger and guilt, Father John is determined to find the murderer. Along the way, he teams up with Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden when they discover Father Joseph had ties to a case of Vicky's, once again putting their lives in danger.

"Vivid western landscapes, intriguing history, compelling characters, and quick, tight writing that is a joy to read....Coel has her own voice and point of view...a unique mix of the modern and the traditional."--Booklist

"Coel is a vivid voice for the West, its struggles to retain its past and at the same time enjoy the fruits of the future."--The Dallas Morning News

"[A book] that you finish not only well entertained, but all the better for it."--The Arizona Daily Star

"One of the top storytellers of the genre."--The Midwest Book Review

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fr. John O'Malley and attorney Vicky Holden solve a mystery and wrestle with their mutualAand forbiddenAattraction in another suspenseful outing (after The Story Teller, 1998). When his elderly assistant is killed on a back road on the Wind River Arapaho Reservation in Wyoming, Father John assumes that he himself was the target, since the dead man was driving his truck and had just stepped out of it when he was shot. Soon, however, he learns that the frail old priest, who once held Father John's current post as head of the St. Francis Mission, came back to the reservation to expose a long-buried crime against the Arapaho people. When Holden, an Arapaho lawyer, hears that a priest has been murdered, she fears the worst, since Sonny Red Wolf, an angry Indian separatist, has often vowed to drive Father John off the reservation. After Holden finds Father John alive, she embarks on her own investigation of the murder. Meanwhile, movie star Sharon David hires Holden to trace her true lineage; she is convinced she was born to Arapaho parents on the reservation and given away for adoption. Holden repeats the local legendAthat many Arapaho babies died of a mysterious sickness around the time of Sharon David's birth, so no Arapaho would let a baby go. Probing, however, she uncovers a plot involving a clinic and a famous pediatrician, while Father John, converging on the same plot, confronts the killer. Like many mystery writers working on Native American ground, Coel knows that the gaps between cultures are fertile ground for suspense. She also develops solid characters and a keen sense of place that keep this tale humming. Author tour. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In the tradition of Tony Hillerman and Jean Hager, Coel sets her heartwarming mystery series (The Ghost Walker) on the Wind River Arapaho Reservation in Wyoming and peoples it with caring but troubled and endearing characters. Father John O'Malley of St. Francis Mission has a few skeletons in his closet; a recovering alcoholic who experienced a passionate love for his high school sweetheart, Ellen, back in Boston, he now worries about the attraction he and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden feel for each other. Vicky's feelings for Father John become unmistakable when Father Joseph Keenan, the elderly philosopher-priest assigned to St. Francis, is found murdered by a bullet obviously intended for Father John. Simultaneously, she must grapple with the arrival of Sharon David, a movie star convinced that she was adopted at birth from the reservation. For fans of Western mysteries, this is a sure bet. Recommended.ASusan A. Zappia, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Phoenix
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 332 pages
• Publisher: G. K. Hall & Company (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0783889585
• ISBN-13: 978-0783889580
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,661,070 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

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A suspenseful Arapaho mystery, June 28, 2000

By 

Sheila L. Beaumont (South Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Bird (Hardcover)

"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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tragic story, magnificently written, April 15, 2000

By 

Sondra Ward (Knightdale, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Bird (Hardcover)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughts on "Lost Bird", September 21, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Lost Bird (A Wind River Reservation Myste) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.