Silent are the Dead

Mary Higgins Clark Award-finalist Rowell’s second mystery featuring Kiowa professional storyteller Mae “Mud” Sawpole opens in media res as she attends a cleansing and blessing ceremony at the Kiowa Tribe Museum in Carnegie, Oklahoma. As recounted in Never Name the Dead, Mud and her cousin Denny thwarted the attempted theft of the precious Jefferson Peace Medal given to the Tribe during the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804. Earlier in the day, they had also found a body and identified the killer. Now, it is time to return the medal to the museum and for Mud to go back to Silicon Valley, where her PR client has an important event. First, she needs to confront tribe chairman, Wyatt Walker, and tribe legislator Anna ManyHorse about the illegal fracking on her grandfather’s land but when the dealer involved in the theft of the Jefferson Peace medal and other Kiowa artifacts is murdered and a respected tribal elder falls suspect, Mud and Denny must race against the clock on the longest night of their lives (Mud has a noon flight to catch the next day!) to find the real culprits behind the fracking and the dealer’s killing. As a gay woman of mixed race, Mud has always felt a bit of an outsider (“a large minority in the Tribe didn’t think I was Kiowa enough…because I didn’t look Indian enough”), but her great-aunt’s wisdom and a ceremonial sweat bath set her on the path to finding the truth. Rowell, whose Kiowa name, “Koyh Mi O Boy Dah”, means “She Is A Traditional Kiowa Woman”, provides enough backstory for newbies to slip easily into the storyline. Her details about Kiowa history, culture, and spiritual traditions are respectful and fascinating. She also knows how to write an intense fight scene complete with menacing rattlesnakes. Tony Hillerman fans will enjoy discovering a promising mystery writer and her intriguing protagonist.