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When the bones of a woman killed 30 years ago are unearthed on Wyoming's Wind River reservation, many people think that the police are going to forget about it. Women feel that no one cares enough about their plight right now, much less care about the identity of some lone female killed so long ago. Some of the women on the reservation contact Native American attorney Vicky Holden and they ask Father John O'Malley to talk to the sheriff and ensure he will make the full effort to discover the dead woman's name and reason for her death to permit the bones to be buried with all due respect. To Vicky Holden, the issue of women being abused is a very painful and personal one. Her husband had been abusive and she had to leave him and her children in order to help herself. She still lives with guilt about that. Recently she and her now adult children had to get involved to stop a man from beating up a woman in an alley. She also knows that homicide is the leading cause of death for Native American women. Because of these feelings she is compelled to find out the name of the dead woman and who killed her. Right away she gets a letter in her car saying STOP and more vicious warnings follow. Even when her partner and lover Adam Lone Eagle tells her to back off, that it is too dangerous for her to get involved, Vicky can't give up on the idea of justice for the poor woman whose bones were just found. Fr John O'Malley is also asked by some Native American women to make sure the police keep trying to find out who the woman was. Fr John does his best, but right now he is worried that he might have to leave the reservation. He's been there longer than is usual for most priests and he's recently been called to take a sabbatical in Rome, after which he might or might not be permitted to return. He knows he will go where the church sends him, but like his predecessor at the mission, he knows that part of his heart will always remain at the mission – as will part of his heart remain with Vicky, a woman with whom he has been sharing a powerful attraction. THE GIRL WITH BRAIDED HAIR also follows the action in 1973 as we drive along with the woman whose bones will be found in the future, Liz Plenty Horses. She was a follower of the American Indian Movement (AIM) mostly because of her boyfriend and father of her child. Now Liz is accused of talking to the police and giving away the hiding place of one of the movement's Indian Leaders, causing his death. We travel with Liz as she goes from woman to woman's home trying to find someone who will believe that she never ratted out the secrets of the AIM and trying to find a place of refuge, but one after another she's turned away, mainly because the women are afraid. This is a straightforward mystery and investigation. One by one the clues come out and Vicky and Fr John follow the leads. As the danger factor rises from the remnants of the AIM movement and from the killer, the readers worry for Vicky's safety and we also understand that, even as far as Vicky seems to have come in her independence, she is still as vulnerable to the men around her as any woman ever was. This is the 13th in the series and I am delighted to say that finally, the on-again off-again romance between Fr John and Vicky seems to finally be coming to an end. Both have finally realized that they have picked their lives and are going to find their way apart from each other. I just wish that Vicky could figure out if she really wants to make that final commitment to Adam Lone Eagle, or to finally give him up because he's just not what she wants. Just figure it out already, lady! Too many pages have been wasted with her uncertainty and I'm very tired of it. For fans of this series, this book delivers an exceptional story and mystery. For newcomers to the series, this book stands well on its on and will gently fill in its back story so that new readers won't be lost and won't get annoyed that too much of the story is referring to other books in the series. A fine mystery with interesting characters and a compelling story, THE GIRL WITH BRAIDED HAIR is first-rate and a fine read.
Reviewed by A. L. Katz, October 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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