Native American Fiction Mystery

A frantic young girl flees the reservation to escape the horrors of abuse at the hands of her adoptive family. Despising her white father they blame for the death of the girl's mother. The man is driven out only to be found dead along a lonely stretch of dirt road. Suffering through a long and desperate struggle on the back streets of Albuquerque, the girl somehow manages to survive, and against all odds, eventually claws her way up from the depths of degradation to a life of success beyond her wildest imagining.

James "Orlando" Sherwood has resurrected the old Shadow Dance religion, having his followers dance for days at a time for the promise of an Indian paradise. And when lawyer Vicky Holden's estranged husband is found murdered, Father John O'Malley believes that Orlando has more to do with it than he lets on. But to get the proof, Father John and Vicky Holden will have to learn to dance to his music.

Someone has left three dead Shoshones on an historic battlefield, positioned to mimic the bodies of those Arapahos killed in the slaughter. Frankie Montana, attorney Vicky Holden's latest client, is a frequent guest of the reservation's holding cells, and after a recent heated encounter with the three dead men, is the number one suspect in their deaths. But despite his faults, Vicky doesn't believe he is capable of murder.

More than a year has passed since shaman John Running Deer and his equally gifted granddaughter, Evelyn Sherman, battled Brigindo and Teutates’ other three siblings in Cherokee, North Carolina. At the time, John and Evelyn prayed this would be it for dealing with violent ancient entities that supersede the normal realm of ghosts and other mischievous spirits. They naively equated the Hobbs family’s return to peaceful lives in Colorado as the end of their own misadventures with the supernatural. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

For four generations, the Messmers have raised cattle in the rough country of eastern Montana. When the current owners die in a motor home accident, they leave the ranch to their son - an ominous development for everyone in the area, both human and bovine. Larry Messmer left Toussaint in the 1980s, when he got in trouble for bludgeoning a horse to death, and Gabriel Du Pré hoped he would never come back. Larry announces his return by having his ranch hands kill every weak cow on the property.

Gabriel Du Pré’s aunt Pauline has burned through more than her share of husbands, so it’s no surprise when she shows up in Toussaint complaining that the latest one, Badger, has run off. Du Pré, the fiddler and sometimes deputy, agrees to go looking for her man and finds him shot, execution-style, in the wilds of the Montana countryside. A chat with his contacts at the FBI reveals that Badger, a small-time drug smuggler, had been working for them since his last arrest. Pauline’s husband was bait, but the big fish got away.

The subject of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls fails to get the attention it deserves. Facts show that Native American women and girls are twice as likely to be assaulted than any other race, and their third leading cause of death is injury. And out of nearly 6,000 missing and murdered cases, just shy of 200 are in the national law enforcement databases. We need to do something about this epidemic.

Spirit Pass tackles an all-too-real issue that gets all-too-little attention - the disappearances of young women on Native American reservations. This concept alone ensures plenty of emotion for the piece and the novel does a good job of showing the full scope of those affected. This is especially poignant when we see old friends Agnes and Bernice, who find themselves possible rivals following Claudia’s murder. That there are so many suspects for this killing is also a nice touch - this keeps us on our toes and guessing until the reveal in the climax.

This is the third volume of the Ray Corngrower Series. While John Littlefeather tries to survive the harsh Alaskan tundra, he finds that it is not just the animals and climate are savage. In Oklahoma, both Ray and Ted find that one crime can easily lead into something much worse. Kick back in your chair and relax. Take off your shoes and get comfortable. There are stories I would tell.

Star MedLab occupies what was once a factory in Shelton, Connecticut. Now, the medical facility boasts its ability to cure an assortment of mental illnesses and emotional disorders. To make it truly accessible it offers a payment for each admission! But is it a benevolent sanctuary or a place where coercion and experimentation on the vulnerable takes precedence over wellness?

According to both Cherokee and Creek legend U tuin ta', also known as Spear Finger, was a blood-sucking liver-eating monster killed ages ago. However, a series of strange murders in the area of Bristow, Oklahoma indicate she has returned. Deputy Ray Corngrower and John Littlefeather are joined by many in hopes of stopping this terror once and for all.