Felicia J. (FeliciaJ) reviewed The Ghost Walker (Wind River Reservation, Bk 2) on + 136 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 8
"The Ghost Walker," the second book in the Arapaho Indian mystery series, is another well-crafted thriller with great characters. I have come to really care about Coel's amateur sleuths: Father John O'Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden.
In "The Ghost Walker," Father John finds a corpse dumped in a roadside ditch during a Wyoming blizzard. When he returns with the police, the corpse has vanished. Father John soon learns Marcus Deppert, a reckless young Arapaho who once served prison time for drug dealing, has vanished from the reservation. Meanwhile, he finds out a development company plans to buy St. Francis Mission, where he is head pastor, and turn it into a recreation center.
Vicky reunites with her estranged daughter, Susan, who is living with three white men on a remote ranch. Susan is on drugs, and Vicky and Father John suspect the white men are running a drug ring and could be connected to Marcus's disappearance. As they investigate, they put their own lives in danger.
I highly recommend this mystery for its absorbing plot and its intriguing glimpses into the Arapaho culture, but most of all because it really puts you into the heads of the two main protagonists -- characters you can really root for.
In "The Ghost Walker," Father John finds a corpse dumped in a roadside ditch during a Wyoming blizzard. When he returns with the police, the corpse has vanished. Father John soon learns Marcus Deppert, a reckless young Arapaho who once served prison time for drug dealing, has vanished from the reservation. Meanwhile, he finds out a development company plans to buy St. Francis Mission, where he is head pastor, and turn it into a recreation center.
Vicky reunites with her estranged daughter, Susan, who is living with three white men on a remote ranch. Susan is on drugs, and Vicky and Father John suspect the white men are running a drug ring and could be connected to Marcus's disappearance. As they investigate, they put their own lives in danger.
I highly recommend this mystery for its absorbing plot and its intriguing glimpses into the Arapaho culture, but most of all because it really puts you into the heads of the two main protagonists -- characters you can really root for.
Anna C. (eclecticlibrarian) reviewed The Ghost Walker (Wind River Reservation, Bk 2) on + 49 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
great series - features protagonists who must battle their own demons in order to solve the mysteries
Helpful Score: 1
First read for me by this author. A pleasant change of pace.
Rhonda W. (smoky) reviewed The Ghost Walker (Wind River Reservation, Bk 2) on + 228 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The first M. Coel I have read. A very quick read. But somewhat predictable. Average.
Ann C. (auntant) reviewed The Ghost Walker (Wind River Reservation, Bk 2) on + 103 more book reviews
A Father John O'Malley/Vicky Holden mystery - Margaret Coel writes an engrossing murder mystery and at the same time teaches about Arapaho history and customs. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
A Father John O'Malley/Vicky Holden mystery - Margaret Coel writes an engrossing murder mystery and at the same time teaches about Arapaho history and customs. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
From the book cover:
"Father John O'Malley comes across a corpse lying in a ditch beside the highway. When he returns with the police, it is gone. The Arapahos of the Wind River Reservation speak of ghost walkers - tormented souls caught between the earth and the spirit world, who are capable of anything.
Then, within days, a young man disappears from the reservation without a trace. A young woman is found brutally murdered. And as Father John and Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden investigate these crimes, someone - or something - begins to follow them.
Together, Vicky and Father John must draw upon ancient Arapaho traditions to stop a killer, explain the inexplicable, and put a ghost to rest ..."
A Father John O'Malley/Vicky Holden mystery - Margaret Coel writes an engrossing murder mystery and at the same time teaches about Arapaho history and customs. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
From the book cover:
"Father John O'Malley comes across a corpse lying in a ditch beside the highway. When he returns with the police, it is gone. The Arapahos of the Wind River Reservation speak of ghost walkers - tormented souls caught between the earth and the spirit world, who are capable of anything.
Then, within days, a young man disappears from the reservation without a trace. A young woman is found brutally murdered. And as Father John and Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden investigate these crimes, someone - or something - begins to follow them.
Together, Vicky and Father John must draw upon ancient Arapaho traditions to stop a killer, explain the inexplicable, and put a ghost to rest ..."
Evil amond the Wind River Arapahos and a mystery solved by Father John O'Malley and Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden - well worth the read.
Barbara M. (WingedLady) reviewed The Ghost Walker (Wind River Reservation, Bk 2) on + 46 more book reviews
Well written
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
Margaret Coel's writing puts you right on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming-- and that winter wind cuts right through you while you try to piece together all the clues in a very satisfying mystery. While the setting is beautifully rendered, what holds all the pieces of location and investigation together is her superb cast of characters.
Father John O'Malley is a real, flawed human being who cares deeply for the Arapaho on the Wind River Reservation. He has taken the time and trouble to learn their history and their customs, and as a result his parishioners have learned to trust and value him as an important part of their lives. His friend Vicky Holden is a bit prickly and tends to be very reserved, but she's had a tough row to hoe-- escaping from an abusive alcoholic husband and working hard to earn a law degree. Now she's back on the reservation to help her people, but she straddles both worlds and conflicts can arise-- like the sudden reappearance of her daughter, who resents Vicky for leaving her father and making her own way in the world.
All the characters play against each other very well as the various threads of the plot begin to mesh together. Thankfully Coel adds welcome touches of humor to all the serious goings on of the plot, letting us watch the quick-thinking priest wheel and deal to get the people on the reservation the things they so desperately need. Especially humorous is the scene in which O'Malley cuts a deal with a car salesman.
Equally important amongst the murders, the setting, and the characters are the glimpses Coel gives us into Arapaho culture:
"Whites'll say Lester's my brother's grandson."
Father John gave a nod of understanding. There was no concept of aunt, uncle, or cousin on the reservation. Your brother's child was your child. Thomas and Mardell had no children of their own, but they were not childless.
It's a concept other cultures would do well to take to heart.
This is only the second book I've read in this series, but the further I get into it, the deeper I fall. Margaret Coel knows how to write a feast for both mind and heart.
Father John O'Malley is a real, flawed human being who cares deeply for the Arapaho on the Wind River Reservation. He has taken the time and trouble to learn their history and their customs, and as a result his parishioners have learned to trust and value him as an important part of their lives. His friend Vicky Holden is a bit prickly and tends to be very reserved, but she's had a tough row to hoe-- escaping from an abusive alcoholic husband and working hard to earn a law degree. Now she's back on the reservation to help her people, but she straddles both worlds and conflicts can arise-- like the sudden reappearance of her daughter, who resents Vicky for leaving her father and making her own way in the world.
All the characters play against each other very well as the various threads of the plot begin to mesh together. Thankfully Coel adds welcome touches of humor to all the serious goings on of the plot, letting us watch the quick-thinking priest wheel and deal to get the people on the reservation the things they so desperately need. Especially humorous is the scene in which O'Malley cuts a deal with a car salesman.
Equally important amongst the murders, the setting, and the characters are the glimpses Coel gives us into Arapaho culture:
"Whites'll say Lester's my brother's grandson."
Father John gave a nod of understanding. There was no concept of aunt, uncle, or cousin on the reservation. Your brother's child was your child. Thomas and Mardell had no children of their own, but they were not childless.
It's a concept other cultures would do well to take to heart.
This is only the second book I've read in this series, but the further I get into it, the deeper I fall. Margaret Coel knows how to write a feast for both mind and heart.
