by Paula Zellers
24. January 2011 16:06
The Spider’s Web (Wind River Series) by Margaret Coel
Ned Birdsong says he is turning his life around and is preparing for the annual Sun Dance. Marcy Morrison is a white girl who comes to the Reservation and says she is Ned’s fiancée. Rosemary Birdsong is his former Arapaho girlfriend. Even so, this story is not a love triangle, but a murder mystery, with some other criminal activity and blackmail thrown in. Vicky Holden is an Arapaho Indian attorney who left the Reservation to get her law degree and returned to do legal work for her people. Father John O’Malley is the Catholic priest who currently runs the local St. Francis Mission. Their paths cross as they investigate many varied mysteries, crimes and injustices.
This series is set on the Wind River Indian Reservation in the American Southwest. The settings are real. The social issues and problems are those faced by the Arapahos on the Reservation. The crimes are also taken from the headlines—some current and some taken from Arapaho history. Margaret Coel beautifully describes the Southwest landscapes, the rich cultural traditions, and history of the Arapahos. This is the 15th book in this series and the library owns all of them. I tend to like series books, especially about modern day Native Americans, where you really get to know the main characters’ feelings and relationships. I got hooked on the Tony Hillerman series about Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo tribal police. Coel is a worthy successor to Hillerman.
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