I heard that Robert Westbrook’s Howard Moon Deer mysteries were the next big series for fans of the Leaphorn/Chee/Manuelito Native American mysteries written by the father-daughter duo of Tony and Anne Hillerman. With that in mind, I embarked on this series, beginning with the first, Ghost Dancer.
There is a dual hero set-up here with Howard Moon Deer and his friend/boss Jack Wilder. Howard is a late twenties Lakota who fled the reservation to attend Ivy League schools and travel in Europe. He’s half-heartedly working on his dissertation in culinary psycho-sociology, titled “Philosophical Divisions at the Top of the Food Chain.” Jack is a San Francisco cop who was blinded in an automobile accident and forced to retire. They both settle into a little town in New Mexico, San Geronimo, and open a detective agency.
Howard and Jack are hired by an ex-politician who now owns a ski resort. At their first meeting, the detectives find their client dead on the slopes. There are multiple suspects ranging from right-wing militant anti-abortion Christians and San Geronimo’s New Wave population. As Howard is a typical lusty young man, there are some explicit sex scenes which might bother some readers.
Overall, the story lines are not as tight nor the characters as endearing as those in the Hillerman series. As Howard is estranged from reservation life and doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere, the book lacks the deep sense of culture, history, and belonging that permeates the Hillermans’ books. Simply because a series has a Native American protagonist does not mean it is as good as a Hillerman.
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Ghost Dancer (Speaking Volumes, July 18, 2017) is available through:
Your local independent bookseller | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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You can read my review of the latest Hillerman book, Shadow of the Solstice, here.
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