Wife Of Moon

Rating:
Summary: Well written with fascinating historical background
Review: A century ago, an Arapaho woman was killed while a photographer staged a Native American raid at the reservation. Three Indians were convicted of the crime and put to death. In the present day, an exhibition of the photographer's work is being held on the Arapaho reservation. When the museum curator vanishes, and another Arapaho woman is killed, Father John O'Malley and Arapho attorney Vickey Holden both believe that there must be a connection. Of course, the connection might just be an Indian with a wandering eye.

Author Margaret Coel introduces a rich set of suspects. Could T. J. Painted Horse have murdered his wife for the insurance money? Or could irate Indians--or rich businessmen killed her in an attempt to pressure T. J. to back off of his efforts to prevent exploitation of the methane reserves under the reservation? Then there's the scary husband of the museum curator. An ex-CIA agent, Eric Loftus has killed before--and seems to have an unhealthy obsession over his wife.

Coel gradually unfolds the mystery, using flashbacks to 1907 and the first murder to let the reader know more than the protagonists and up the suspense. Coel's writing keeps the story moving along and the reader engaged throughout. The Native American setting and the historical details add interest. I would have liked to see a more satisfying ending to the story, but what was for me a downbeat end is certainly in keeping with the background to Coel's story.

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Coel
Review: Margaret Coel writes an intriguing mystery which is based on the photographs which Edward Curtis took of the Plains Indians in the early 1900's. Curtis recreated battle scenes by hiring
Indians to dress like their forefathers and relive scenes from the past. During one of these photo sessions an Arapaho woman is shot and killed. Her Anglo husband testifies that he saw three Indians murder his wife. With this as a background, the book shifts to the present-day Wind River Reservation, where an Arapaho woman is found dead. Father John O'Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden discover a connection between the Curtis photographs and the recent murder. Their investigation threatens a politician who is running for Senator and who advocates mining the natural resources on the reservation. As usual, Vicky and Father John grapple with their feelings for one another as they attempt to solve the murder and to do what is right. This is an altogether satisfying mystery which gives the reader a look at history and a feel for the Arapaho culture.

Rating:
Summary: A rich, vivid, and skillfully written page-turner
Review: Margaret Coel's skillful depiction of a historic fact conjured alive as fiction in WIFE OF MOON makes for a page-turner. Set on the Wyoming Wind River Reservation, Coel's novel is rich in Arapaho culture, language and lore. Her word paintings of Arapaho people, both past and present, bring them alive with artistic reality.

In 1907, when the Arapahos had moved from small tipi villages to the larger reservation, Edward S. Curtis arrives to photograph warriors raiding the peaceful settlement. He has to stage the event because the families no longer live in tipis of former days. Three warriors, dressed in full battle regalia, ride down a steep slope into the village and launch the staged attack. Stunned silence in its aftermath reveals that the raid has been deadly. Live ammunition, not blank rounds, has killed Bashful Woman, daughter of a Chieftain. Prairie justice demands a hanging.

The scene shifts to the Wind River Reservation of today. Father John O'Malley is the mission pastor, a tall, red-haired picture of his Irish background, tenured here and unwilling to pass the responsibility to his new assistant, Father Damien Henley. His people need him. His path crosses that of Vicky Holden, an Arapaho attorney originally from the village who represents T.J. Painted Horse after the man's wife, Denise, is found dead. Suicide seems likely, but murder surfaces in the investigation.

To complicate matters, the mission is host to a powerful senator's entourage in the days following the grisly discovery. T.J., as tribal councilman, has led protests against the recovery of oil from coal reserves on Indian land, in opposition to the Senator's views. The Mission's museum is showplace for an exhibit featuring Curtis's photographs from the 1907 raid on the village. But the new museum curator, Christine Nelson, has vanished, along with her Range Rover.

Father John consoles his parishioners, relatives of Denise and T.J., while Vicky searches for answers. The two join as old friends to solve the increasing problems cropping up on the sleepy reservation.

Coel's descriptions propel people into events with urgency, and she paints vivid word pictures across an October 1907 time line, weaving the scene into brilliant autumn hues of today's story. At times she is redundant with setting descriptions, a small deduction from her unique storytelling ability. For Margaret Coel followers, WIFE OF MOON is a pleasing addition to her Wind River Reservation series.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

Rating:
Summary: Delightful, fast read!
Review: Photographer Edward S.Curtis arrives at the White River Reservation hoping to capture the life of the Arapaho Indians before it disappears altogether. While creating this 1907 documentary, Bashful Woman, daughter of Chief Sharp Nose is murdered during the filming. Her husband, Carson Evans testifies that he saw the wariors,
Thunder and two of his friends aim and fire at Bashful Woman. With the weight of his report, the three Indians were tried, convicted and hung.

Fast forward to the present. Denise, an ancestor of Chief Sharp Nose and wife of Councilman T.J. Painted Horse is murdered. As the spouse of the victim, T.J. is the FBI's prime candidate until he is bludgened to death. On the same night, the curator of the Arapaho Museum turns up missing and her apartment ransacked and destroyed. Long time friend and lawyer, Vickie Holden is retained to insure that T.J. rights are not violated as the evidence mounts against him while Father O'Malley is trying to locate and protect the last remaining witness while preparing for the arrival of Wyoming Senator Evans, who is preparing to announce his party's presidential nomination. Senator Evans, a decendant of Carson Evans, will stop at nothing to erase the proof of what happened a century ago.

Through flash-backs and descriptions, Ms.Coel transports us back in time and to the present flawlessly while providing a look at the culture of the Arapaho never loosing site of both mysteries. There is even a some flying sparks as Vickie and Adam decide to open a law firm together and between Father O'Malley and Vickie, although neither one of them act upon it. Cleverly, Ms. Coel shows the humanistic, inner turmoil of Father O'Malley by allowing him to have feelings towards a beautiful woman.

Rating:
Summary: exciting who-done-it
Review: The murders begin in 1907 on the Arapaho Wind River Reservation when photographer Edward S. Curtis convinces the Indians to reconstruct a village and have warriors attack the tribe. During the shooting with blank bullets, Bashful Woman, the daughter of Chief Sharp Nose, is killed by a real bullet. Her Anglo husband Carston Evans testifies that he saw the Indian Thunder kill his wife and his two Native American friends were adding him in the attack. His testimony was enough to convict and hang the trio.

In the present, Denise, a descendant of Sharp Nose is murdered and her husband J.T. Painted Horse is the FBI's number one suspect until he is tortured and killed by men who were looking for something on the same night Denise died. Christine, the curator of the Arapaho Museum, disappears and her home is ransacked. Lawyer Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley investigate the homicide from different directions, but reach the same conclusion. Vicky tries to convince the authorities who she believes is behind the murders while Father John tries to protect the last remaining witness.

Through the use of flashbacks readers learn what really happened on that day in 1907 and how justice was thwarted. The Arapaho still seek justice for Bashful Women in the present but they are up against high powered politicians who will use any means at their disposal to erase the proof of what happened almost a century ago and they will kill anyone who has knowledge of that event. WIFE OF MOON is an exciting who-done-it that will appeal to fans of Tony Hillerman and David and Aimee Thurlo thrillers. Margaret Coel provides a deep look at the Arapaho culture wrapped around a fabulous mystery.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Wind River transporting
Review: WIFE OF MOON (Margaret Coel; Berkley Prime Crime) continues the distinguished Wind River series that follows the interlocking lives of Father John O'Malley and lawyer Vicky Holden. Two mysteries almost a century apart interweave across the storylines, but the strongest mystery here is the relationship between John and Vicky and their futures. Will she star a new life with her new lawyer love interest? Will the Jesuit powers above Father John whisk him away and take the reservation mission in a new direction? The evocative use of language is as compelling as ever in Coel's work. Reading her, I often have to go to my window to make sure I'm still in Pennsylvania and haven't somehow been magically transported to Wyoming. She keeps me on the edge of my chair, wondering what will happen to these two people and how she has managed to get me to invest so much in them. I'll definitely be back to find out when her next Wind River mystery appears. One for my Agatha nomination list.

Rating:
Summary: A captivating page turner
Review: Wife of Moon is the first I've read of Margaret Coel's novels, and I'm going to read her earlier ones. In Wife of Moon, Father John O'Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden set out to clear T.J. Painted Horse, one of the most prominent and opinionated men on the Wind River Reservation, of the murder of his wife, Denise.

O'Malley and Holden discover that a display of old photographs on display on the reservation may be tied into Denise's death. In 1907, photographer Edward S. Curtis visited the Wind River Reservation to capture the Arapaho way of life. A murder, for which three Arapaho were executed, occurred when Curtis staged an attack on a village. O'Malley and Holden must not only delve into history, but filter the faults and frailties of the people around them to discover who caused the present, and past, killings.

Coel's characters stay with the reader after the last page. Their problems are believable, and lead them to make flawed decisions, sometimes with miserable consequences. And we care about these people. Though the reader may figure out who the "bad guys" are, the danger around O'Malley and Holden will keep the pages turning.

D.T. Atkinson