Winter's Child (Wind River Mystery, #20)

by Margaret Coel

"Margaret Coel's New York Times bestselling series continues as Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley discover that a centuries-old mystery is tied to a modern-day crime on the Wind River Reservation ... In the midst of a blizzard, Myra and Eldon Little Shield found an abandoned baby on their doorstep and brought her inside. Five years later, no one has come back to claim the little girl now known as Mary Anne Little Shield. But now that she's old enough to start school, her foster parents fear social services will take her--a white child--away from them. Determined to adopt Mary Anne, the Little Shields hire lawyer Clint Hopkins, who wants Vicky as cocounsel on the case. But before their meeting can take place, a black truck deliberately runs Hopkins down in the street. Enlisting Father John to help investigate who would kill to stop the child's adoption, Vicky unravels a connection between the five-year-old girl and a missing alcoholic Arapaho wanted for robbery--only to uncover one of the darkest secrets in Wind River's history.."--

• ISBN10: 0425280322
• ISBN13: 9780425280324
• Publish Date: 6 September 2016
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Imprint: Berkley Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[Silvara]

Check out my other reviews, discussions and link ups at Fantasy of the Silver Dragon.

I received this book for free from Berkley Prime Crime in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I loved how part of the story dealt with a real person in history. I hadn't heard of Lizzie Brokenhorn before reading this book, but now I want to go look her up. I also liked how that story tied into the mystery of the abandoned child.

I was pretty sure who was to blame for the child appearing, early on in the book. But I had no idea how it had happened or why. I also had no idea who the killer was, but it made perfect sense once all was revealed. I really liked Father John, I think he was my favorite character in the story. I liked Vicky as well, but something about Father John clicked with me. I liked his niece Shannon too.

It was neat learning all the little tidbits of Arapaho history, and how they see people. A lot of the anecdotes and memories about Lizzie were made up for the book, but like the author states in the note at the end, just because the history books didn't state it happened, doesn't mean it didn't.

The story is told from two view points, Father John and Vicky. I liked getting to know the area and people, and it was nice that each of the two characters focused on different things in the books. Even though they weren't always following the same events and people, it really flowed well and fit together. It never felt like one storyline was being neglected for the other.

If you like history mixed with your mysteries, as well as Native American culture, you need to try this book.

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon