The Thunder Keeper

Arapaho Indian Mysteries

By: Margaret Coel

Narrated by: Stephanie Brush

Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Lawyer Vicky Holden leaves the reservation for important cases for the Indian Nations. But Wind River pulls her back when Balder Industries executive Vince Lewis is killed while trying to hire Vicky for reservation work.

Investigate another Arapaho Indian Mystery.

©2001 Margaret Coel (P)2001 Books in Motion

Critic reviews

"Coel gets the atmosphere just right." ( Publishers Weekly)
"[Coel's] series...is now widely considered the most accomplished heir to Tony Hillerman's legacy." (Scripps Howard News Service)

Bound by the Confessional

In this installment of the series, Father O’Malley is visited at the mission by a white man and hears his confession that he witnessed the murder of a young Indian man, and the warning that more killing is to follow. At his wits end and knowing that he cannot divulge what he’s been told in the sanctity of the confessional, Father O’Malley sets out to learn the identity of the dead Indian. Meanwhile, Vicky Holden has returned to her former job in Denver as an attorney, but feels out of place away from the Arapaho reservation and her people. Her son, has moved in with her, but they continue to have struggles, as he many times sides with his father, Vicky’s ex (Ben) who is an abusive alcoholic. Vicky often laments over her status of “woman alone” as the Arapaho grandmothers refer to her, but prefers it to being hit or dominated by Ben again. Most of Vicky’s cases in Denver are mundane, but when she gets a call from a man saying its life or death, she agrees to meet him . . . witnessing him being killed by a hit and run driver just prior to their meeting. The police, however, insist it was an accident. As Vicky digs deeper into the man and the company that he worked for, she is certain it was no accident, and she is once again pulled into danger as she investigates just what the man was going to tell her. The case of the murdered man on the reservation, as well as Father O’Malley’s assistant’s inappropriate behavior keep the priest busy. As the investigation of the two murders progress, Vicky and Father O’Malley begin to compare notes. Excellent story and surprisingly GREAT conclusion to the book!

Good Native American Mystery

I liked it! The interaction between Vicky and Father O’Malley at a distance is different. At least the focus shifts from their relationship to the actual whodunits, which were very well done with interesting plot twists.

Great book

Very fun book. Informative. Good suspense. Very descriptive of area and people. Anxious to read next book.

7 Chapters.

Binge-listened from the 1st book, The Eagle Catcher through to this, the 7th book in the John O'Malley series. I REALLY enjoyed the first three or four,, but I'll not go further. Excellent narration. Story is meh again. Murder on the Rez again. Vicki goes to Colorado again, Vicki comes back again. The redundancy in the 'breath smelled like' and other repeated descriptive devices in each book made me ... shake my head. Moving on.