C. M. Wendelboe

This two-pronged mystery begins with the Midnight Sheepherder rustling sheep in the dead of night. The scene is so vivid that I felt I was right there in the pasture with the thief and the thief's canine accomplice. The second mystery needing to be solved is, of course, the identity of the strangler. Both held my interest all the way to the end of this fast-paced book, and if I'd paid attention to one of my rules of armchair detecting, I would've figured out the rustling mystery. Oh well... show more sometimes I get so caught up in a story that I forget all about those rules of mine.

Arn Anderson and his motley crew of friends provide both humor and excitement to this second Bitter Wind mystery. He gets along well with Police Chief Oblanski but has a much more difficult time developing a rapport with Slade, the lead investigator on the homicide case. (Probably because Slade is one of these guys who knows he's always right.) But back to that motley crew.

Danny Spotted Elk was a homeless man who thought he'd found a home in a derelict house until Arn decided to fix up his deceased mother's home so he himself could live in it. Danny talked himself into staying because he's a first-rate carpenter/plumber/electrician... and not a bad cook either. Arn's saving a bundle on the renovation, getting fed, and finding out that it's much better when there are two smart alecks on the premises instead of just one. Ana Maria's the one who goes out investigating most often with Arn because she gets her TV station to hire him to investigate things. Wonder of wonders, she's a TV reporter with scruples and smarts, not the typical pains in the neck you usually read about in crime fiction, so you don't want to sic the Saturday Night Strangler on her.

Hunting the Saturday Night Strangler has an excellent double-barreled mystery, laugh-out-loud humor, and some hair-raising action scenes added to a very strong cast of characters. C.M. Wendelboe's Bitter Wind novels are a good way to spend an afternoon or two. I'm looking forward to the next one. show less

Wendelboe's Spirit Road mysteries are valuable reading on several levels. Good mysteries, vivid settings, multi-faceted characters, and laugh-out-loud humor are some of them, but the most important one to me is the chance to see the world through the eyes of Indians. (I know. I didn't call them Native Americans. Neither do they.) FBI agent Manny Tanno has worked for many years in Washington, DC, so he hasn't really been enjoying his "banishment" back to the Rez-- the Lakota reservation in show more South Dakota.

"'Don't worry about it.' Manny had heard comments like that all his life: people surprised that an Indian drove a decent car or wore neat clothes or shopped in public with children that were clean and well behaved."

Wendelboe shows us the problems that are faced every day on reservations throughout this country: domestic violence, alcoholism, unemployment, drugs. In Death on the Greasy Grass he also shows us another-- the sale of Indian artifacts-- by creating the fascinating story of an Indian survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. That this survivor goes on to learn how to succeed in the white world is more than a bit gratifying.

While Manny is traveling around listening to polka music and interviewing all the suspects, we also watch women dealing with the fact that the men they love are dedicated to jobs in law enforcement that may very well kill them. This all makes for a page-turning story with a very interesting resolution. I doubt there will be more Manny Tanno mysteries, and I will miss them. This FBI agent taught me well, and he made me laugh. If you like mysteries with Indian settings, give C.M. Wendelboe's Spirit Road mysteries a try. show less

Author C.M. Wendelboe tells his story with two different timelines: one present-day timeline with Manny trying to find out what happened so many years ago, and the second that follows Moses Ten Bears from the 1920s through to the 1940s. In many ways I found Moses's timeline to be the more interesting as it shows how life was on the reservation during that twenty year period, and how two families became entangled in lies, secrets, and the prejudices of the day.

Manny Tanno is a dogged show more investigator who has flashes of intuition-- but hopefully not when he's behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. (His lack of driving skills is legendary.) Raised by his uncle, he's only now forming a relationship with his older brother, who as an AIM (American Indian Movement) enforcer served time in prison for murder. Manny went to school and left the reservation to become the first Lakota FBI agent. He had no intentions of ever returning until he was sent back by his superiors in Washington, DC. There is a sharp division between his youth and his adulthood, and Manny suffers a bit of an identity crisis that can even be seen in his choice of music: "...polka, with its heavy beat so much like traditional powwow music, without causing Manny to commit to being a Lakota through and through."

Wendelboe's main character is backed by a strong supporting cast. Willie, the young man Manny is trying to train as the tribal investigator is having emotional problems as a result of events that took place in the first book in the series. (No, you don't have to read it to understand what's going on.) Then there's the running eBay fight for Elvis memorabilia between the reservation's CSI guy, Pee Pee, and the acting tribal chief of police, Lumpy Looks Twice. This brings much needed levity to the book. Memorable characters appear throughout the book, including Alexander Hamilton High Elk, who's been nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court, Manny's brother Reuben, and a little girl named Morissa Friend of All. My least favorite was Lumpy's niece Janet, a stereotypical makeup laden shopaholic that Lumpy put on the force in an attempt to straighten out Willie. All Janet seems to do is scream, throw up, shop, put on makeup, pout, rub against Willie, and find inventive new ways for the buttons to come undone on her shirt. Extremely tiresome!

Despite Janet, this is a strong book filled with people who are fighting for some kind of future while being grounded by their past. What they decide to do with those bad rocks of the title will have an impact on their future. Although there is a much stronger Native American element to Wendelboe's books-- obviously because most of the characters are Native American-- I find them enjoyable reading and complimentary to Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire novels. show less

Being a fan of such mystery writers as Craig Johnson, Patrick F. McManus, and Peter Bowen, it's easy to see that I like crime fiction with a strong sense of the western United States. I also enjoy mysteries with a strong Native American element, so when I found Death Along the Spirit Road while browsing in a bookstore, I knew I had to bring it home with me. It was the right decision.

The residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation inhabit the poorest county in the US, and Wendelboe captures the show more bleakness and despair. There are so many undercurrents-- both historic and personal-- the Massacre at Wounded Knee, the American Indian Movement, distrust of the FBI, alcoholism, joblessness, Manny's own background.... Manny and his brother Reuben went to live with their uncle when their parents died. Manny idolized his older brother, who became involved in AIM and was eventually found guilty of murder and sent to prison. Reuben is now a free man living on the reservation, and along with the murder of Jason Red Cloud, Manny intends to find some way to prove that Reuben is innocent. As you can see, Wendelboe has sunk the shaft of his pen deep into ore-rich ground.

Manny Tanno is self-deprecating, but don't let that fool you. The man knows what he's doing and has a keen eye for detail. He also counts on his appearance to give him an edge: "It was his plainness that dropped people's guard. His plainness allowed them to trust him even when they shouldn't, and people often trusted him with that small piece of information that would convict them." With so much animosity towards him, it's often difficult to tell if the cooperative people are telling everything they know, or if they're holding back vital information. I found that all this ill will and the reasons behind it made the mystery even more intriguing.

From what I've said so far, most of you are probably thinking that this mystery may be too dark and depressing for you. Think again. There are bright spots of laugh-out-loud humor throughout the book. In fact, I think I've finally found a character who's worse on cars than Stephanie Plum. Yes, if you work for a car rental place and Manny Tanno signs on the dotted line, you may as well kiss that vehicle goodbye. When he gets into yet another rental car and reads the note left for him, I cracked up laughing.

If you enjoy mysteries with a strong main character, humor, and brain-teasing plots as well as ones set in the West or ones with a strong Native American element, you can get all those and more by picking up C.M. Wendelboe's Death Along the Spirit Road. show less