THE GIRL WITH BRAIDED HAIR

The bones of a woman found on the Wind River Reservation revive the turmoil of the past.

Attorney Vicky Holden and her frequent sleuthing partner Father John O’Malley (The Drowning Man, 2006, etc.) can’t find justice for the old Arapaho bones until they find out whose they are. Autopsy results reveal that she was beaten and shot in 1973, a time when the militant American Indian Movement’s fight for Native-American rights was leading to pitched battles with the FBI. The women of the reservation want a proper burial and condign punishment, but no one’s willing to talk, because under the lingering shadow of AIM, tribe members may not be what they seem. Vicky and Father John interview many people before they learn that the body is that of Liz Plenty Horses, a young mother AIM accused of snitching. Vicky and her partner and lover Adam are also handling a present-day case of discrimination when a series of threats warn her to back off. When Vicky witnesses a case of violence against an Indian woman during a trip to Denver, the moment vividly recalls beatings by her abusive husband. Frightened but undaunted, Vicky and Father John risk their lives to solve the murder.

Another wonderfully evocative story of the struggles of the Arapaho to retain their heritage while living in a white man’s world.