Kirk Mitchell

Dee LaGuerre, a Bureau of Land Management ranger, has divorced her yuppie environmental lawyer husband and returned to her home county in Nevada. Her job puts her in conflict with the cattle ranchers she's known all her life -- even more than she already was, having grown up as the daughter of a Basque sheeprancher. Her environmental sympathies also pit her against her supervisor, a go-along to get-along type. And by the way, her best friend is a madam.
Kirk Mitchell has written a highly show more nuanced tale that gives exactly what I wanted from my choice for a Nevada book -- the landscape and culture of the state outside Las Vegas. There are no black-and-white characters in this book -- even the villains can enlist a little bit of our sympathy. At the end, the major crime is solved, but we are not sure exactly what will happen next, except that Dee LaGuerre will continue to deal with ambiguity while doing her best to protect the high desert she loves. Recommended. show less

I’ve only recently begun to test the waters of detective fiction and police procedurals. With my toes just starting to get wet, I now find myself swept away in the current. This one is called “Cry Dance” by Kirk Mitchell.

The discovery, in his jurisdiction, of a corpse without a face, brings Emmet Quanah Parker, a Comanche federal agent into the middle of a crime involving multiple murders and Indian gaming. Though this was the first in a series, there was a back story divulged in show more spurts which formed an interesting dimension to the main character. His assigned partner for this investigation is Anna Turnipseed, another Native American, who was sent undercover to the casino being investigated. Life on a reservation, Indian culture in the modern world, the different jurisdictions for law in and around Indian land, behind the scenes in gaming – I found all that quite interesting. The author drew his setting of Indian land around the Grand Canyon with just the right mood.

I enjoyed this read tremendously – characterizations, dynamics of the characters’ relationships, setting, and story, all. show less

Well written, historically correct, and an engrossing read. Mitchell writes characters with whom I can identify with and feel for - even the ones I love to hate. I look forward to walking with Anna on her trip through darkness - and out the other side.

The original premise of the story was very good. If the author had stuck to the original premise, I would have rated this book much higher. It still would have been no comparison to Tony Hillerman, but it would have been a decent read. However, the author decided to spend way too much time discussing the main protagonists' sex/personal life. I really didn't care one bit about this and needed things to just end and be done. The author also decided to end the story with a climax that was out show more of left field. I wouldn't have minded so much (those can be fun sometimes), but the motive made no sense and seemed to just be added for shock value more than anything. I have read that this was not one of Mitchell's best books in the series so I'll probably give this series one more shot. show less