The Drowning Man (Wind River Reservation Series #12) by Margaret Coel

From the Publisher

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.

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 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Several years ago, a petroglyph (carved rock art so old it has been difficult to date as yet) was stolen from Red Cliff Canyon. Now it is being offered to the Arapaho/Shoshone people for a large sum of money. In prison sits Travis Birdsong who was convicted of stealing the petroglyph and killing his partner in crime. Travis's grandfather wants attorney Vicky Holden to get him out of jail. While Vicky reviews the Birdsong trial, Father John O'Malley works with tribal authorities and the FBI to find the stolen art. Coel, author of 12 Father O'Malley/Vicky Holden mysteries (e.g., Eye of the Wolf; The Dream Stalker), depicts the cultural and political realities of life on a Wyoming reservation. She is particularly good at portraying the fragile ties of trust that exist between Native Americans and the white community. For readers who like James D. Doss and Tony Hillerman (see below). Coel lives in Boulder, CO. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and her clerical friend investigate artifact theft and murder near the Wind River reservation. Father John O'Malley becomes involved in the hunt for the recently stolen sacred petroglyph known as "The Drowning Man" when a mysterious Indian stops him on the road and offers to return the glyph to the tribes for $250,000. At the same time, Amos Walking Bear, grandfather of Travis Birdsong, asks Vicky to reopen the case that sent Travis to prison. Travis was convicted of manslaughter in the killing of his friend when they supposedly fell out over money after stealing a glyph almost identical to The Drowning Man, a glyph that was never recovered. Although both the Tribal Council and Vicky's partner and lover Adam Lone Eagle want her to drop the case, Vicky thinks Travis was wrongly convicted and refuses to quit even after she's almost killed. It's clear that the old crime and the new one are connected. Soon enough, the FBI becomes involved in one of the many cases of stolen Native American artifacts under investigation all over the West. But it isn't until Vicky convinces Travis to come clean and Father John puts his life on the line by acting as an intermediary that the criminal masterminds are finally brought to justice. Coel (Eye of the Wolf, 2005, etc.) blends her usual thoughtful depiction of life on the reservation with a solid mystery.

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