Swept Away

Boulder author Margaret Coel has been mining the lore of her fictional Wind River Reservation mysteries for nearly twenty years – and almost as many books. Propelled by the camaraderie between her gumshoe protagonists – Jesuit priest Father John O'Malley and Arapaho Indian attorney Vicky Holden – the series does...

By Susan Froyd

August 28, 2014

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Boulder author Margaret Coel has been mining the lore of her fictional Wind River Reservation mysteries for nearly twenty years – and almost as many books. Propelled by the camaraderie between her gumshoe protagonists – Jesuit priest Father John O'Malley and Arapaho Indian attorney Vicky Holden – the series does for the Arapaho tribe what Tony Hillerman did for the Navajos by braiding their traditions into well-plotted detective yarns set on the harsh Wyoming prairie.

Night of the White Buffalo ($26.95, Berkley Prime Crime), Coel's latest Wind River installment, interweaves a worrisome admission made to O'Malley in the confession booth with an unsolved rancher's murder and the sudden appearance of a sacred white buffalo calf on the dead man's land. Together, the priest and the lawyer join forces to unlock the disparate clues.

Coel will introduce and sign copies of the Night of the White Buffalo tonight at 7 p.m. at the Tattered Cover Book Store, 9315 Dorchester Street in Highlands Ranch, and again at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, September 4, at the Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl Street Street in Boulder. Visit tatteredcover.com or boulderbookstore.indiebound.com for additional information.
Tue., Sept. 2, 7 p.m., 2014

Susan Froyd started writing for Westword as the "Thrills" editor in 1992 and never quite left the fold. These days she still freelances for the paper in addition to walking her dogs, enjoying cheap ethnic food and reading voraciously. Sometimes she writes poetry.

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