Wind River Reservation Mystery

15 primary works

The Eagle Catcher

by Margaret Coel

Published 1 May 1995

From New York Times bestselling author Margaret Coel comes a tightly crafted mystery that blends Native American culture and history with contemporary issues and fast-paced action—the first in the Wind River series!

When the Arapaho tribal chairman is found murdered in his tepee at the Ethete powwow, the evidence points to the chairman's nephew, Anthony Castle. But Father John O'Malley, pastor of St. Francis Mission, and Vicky Holden, the Arapaho lawyer, do not believe the young man capable of murder. Together they set out to find the real murderer and clear Anthony's name.

The trail that Father John and Vicky follow winds across the high plains of the Wind River Reservation into Arapaho homes and community centers and into the fraud-infested world of Indian oil and land deals. Eventually it leads to the past—the Old Time—when the Arapahos were forced from their homes on the Great Plains and sent to the reservation.

There in the Old Time, Father John and Vicky discover a crime so heinous that someone was willing to commit murder more than a hundred years later to keep it hidden. As they close in a killer who does not hesitate to kill again, they discover they have become the next targets...

Ghost Walker

by Margaret Coel

Published 1 October 1996

New York Times bestselling author Margaret Coel explores the nature of evil in this “outstanding entry” (Booklist) in the Wind River Reservation Mystery series.

Father John O'Malley comes across the 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 following 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...

The Dream Stalker

by Margaret Coel

Published 1 October 1997

New York Times bestselling author Margaret Coel's acclaimed Wind River mysteries “shouldn't be missed by anyone interested in either new trends in mystery writing or contemporary American Indian culture. She's a master at both.”—Tony Hillerman

With promises of new jobs and millions in revenue, the Wind River Reservation agrees to use their land for a nuclear storage site. But Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden is not willing to let this happen. And with help from Father John O'Malley, she sets out to protect the land and her people.

But someone involved wants to keep Vicky—and anyone else who stands in the way—quiet. When a man is murdered and two attempts are made on Vicky's life, she knows the stakes have been raised. Now Vicky and Father John must search through false promises and misguided dreams to find the truth of this harrowing crime—and restore the true spirit and dreams of the Arapaho...

The Story Teller

by Margaret Coel

Published 1 September 1999

Father O'Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden return! When a sacred tribal artifact disappears from a museum, it's more than Arapaho history that is lost--it's an Arapaho student's life...

The Lost Bird

by Margaret Coel

Published 1 March 2000

Father O'Malley and Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden must uncover a baby-selling scheme at a clinic forty years ago.

"Suspenseful...Solid characters and a keen sense of place...keep this tale humming." --Publishers Weekly

The Spirit Woman

by Margaret Coel

Published 1 September 2000

According to legend, Sacajawea—the Native American woman who helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition through the American wilderness—is buried on the Wind River Reservation. Now, a college professor—and longtime friend of Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden—has disappeared while seeking the truth behind the legend.

Vicky and Father John O’Malley soon discover that her missing friend is linked to another female historian who also vanished on the reservation—while researching Sacajawea twenty years ago. The answer to the mystery of the missing scholars may lie in the pages of Sacajawea’s hidden memoirs—and with a culprit who will do anything to ensure they’re never found…

The Thunder Keeper

by Margaret Coel

Published 1 September 2001

The apparent suicide of a young Arapaho on sacred ground shocks the populace of the Wind River Reservation. But strange events following the death lead Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley to suspect foul play.

The Shadow Dancer

by Margaret Coel

Published 3 September 2002

With the disappearance of a young man and his old friend Vicky Holden accused of murder, Father John O'Malley must prove his hunch that both events are connected to a dangerous sect leader known as Orlando-who has resurrected the old Shadow Dance religion.

Killing Raven

by Margaret Coel

Published 2 September 2003

The discovery of a white man's body on the Wind River Reservation has Father John O'Malley trying to keep the peace. Meanwhile, the newly opened Great Plains Casino--with Vicky Holden as its in-house counsel--is fighting for its life against an angry group of protesters. And when Vicky stumbles across some disturbing evidence about the murder, she's suddenly caught in a dangerous game--with her own life at stake.

Wife of Moon

by Margaret Coel

Published 7 September 2004

Arapaho attorney Vicki Holden and Father John O'Malley must find the link between the murder of a woman—and the murder of her ancestor from a century earlier.

Eye of the Wolf

by Margaret Coel

Published 6 September 2005

This is for the Indian priest.

The cryptic message was clearly meant for Father O’Malley. The unemotional voice on the answering machine, speaking of revenge against old enemies, wanted O’Malley to visit the site of the Bates Battle. In 1874, Shoshone warriors led Captain Alfred Bates’s cavalry to Arapaho tribal grounds, and nearly everyone living there was massacred. As a nation, the Arapaho were finished, but their people survived. Now, someone has left three dead Shoshones on the old battlefield, positioned to mimic the bodies of those Arapaho killed in the historic slaughter.

Vicky Holden’s latest client, Frankie Montana, has become the number one suspect in their deaths. Despite his less than sterling background, Vicky doesn’t believe he’s capable of murder. Someone is trying to stir up a war between the Arapaho and Shoshone people—and tear open the painful wounds of the past once more…

 

 

 

 

The Drowning Man

by Margaret Coel

Published 1 September 2006

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.

The Girl with Braided Hair

by Margaret Coel

Published 1 September 2007

Attorney Vicky Holden and Father John O?Malley investigate the death of Liz Plenty Horses?a woman murdered back in 1973 after being accused of betraying the militant American Indian Movement?and incite the malice of a long-dormant killer.

The Silent Spirit

by Margaret Coel

Published 1 September 2009

Kiki Wallowingbull went to Hollywood to uncover the truth behind why his great-grandfather disappeared back in 1923. But after Kiki's frozen body is discovered on the reservation, Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley must find the connection between the two violent deaths separated by nearly a century.

The Spider's Web

by Margaret Coel

Published 1 September 2010

Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden agrees to represent a woman accused of murdering her Arapaho fiancé, a decision that places her at odds with her own people-and Father John O'Malley-for choosing to believe an "outsider" over her own people. Caught in a web of deceit, Vicky and Father John must overcome their differences to discover the identity of a psychopathic killer.