The Wolf Path

Neil Hamel #3

by Judith Van Gieson

It's a 104 degree day in Albuquerque when attorney/sleuth Neil Hamel gets a call asking her to go to southern New Mexico to help a wolf advocate who calls himself Juan Sololobo. Juan, who attracts trouble wherever he goes, is visiting the town of Soledad to give an educational program featuring his timber wolf, Sirius. After someone lets Sirius out of his pen, a federal official is murdered and Juan becomes the prime suspect. As Neil defends him she finds herself immersed in a deadly conflict between ranchers and environmentalists over wolf reintroduction. The Wolf Path is Judith Van Gieson's fourth Neil Hamel mystery. Since it was first published to critical acclaim in 1992, Mexican gray wolves have been reintroduced to the Southwest, and there are now several packs free-ranging in Arizona and New Mexico. Wolf advocate Bobbie Holaday, the founder of Preserve Arizona's Wolves (PAWS), updates this edition with an introduction summarizing the progress that has been made. Van Gieson has published eight mysteries featuring Neil Hamel and five with University of New Mexico librarian Claire Reynier.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Animals

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Judith Van Gieson is the author of a children’s book, a collection of poetry and short stories, and thirteen mysteries. Her short stories have appeared in several mystery anthologies. In the first mystery series eight books, featuring female Albuquerque attorney/sleuth Neil Hamel, were published by HarperCollins. Neil’s work often involved environmental issues including endangered species and wildfires. Books in this series were published in England, Japan and Germany. It was optioned by CBS. The Lies That Bind was a finalist for the Shamus Award for best detective novel. The series won the Spirit of Magnifico Literary Award.

There were five books in the second series with heroine Claire Reynier published in paperback by Signet, in hardcover by University of New Mexico Press and in a large print edition by Thorndike. Claire works as an archivist and librarian at the Center for Southwest Research at UNM. This series involved rare artifacts and New Mexico history. The Stolen Blue was a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award. The Shadow of Venus was a finalist for the Barry Award and won the Zia Award given by New Mexico Press Women for Best Work of Fiction by a New Mexico woman.

Series:
* Neil Hamel
* Claire Reynier

Reviews

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this mystery, attorney Neil Hamel is asked by an old friend to journey from her home in Albuquerque to Soledad, New Mexico in the southernmost part of the state, near both the border with Mexico, and also to the White Sands Missile Range, where the Federal Government is trying to reintroduce the lobo, a wolf that was once populous in that area, but now only roams the desert in Mexico, having been largely eliminated in the U.S. She is going there to assist a man who has brought his own lobo there, and who is needing help in obtaining a permit to have a wild animal there, and to combat the resistance of many of the local ranchers. What begins as a simple case with a permit to iron out soon becomes a murder investigation, and the lobo has been confiscated and confined, and then his owner, Juan Sololobo, is facing murder charges.
For the most part I enjoyed this story, although there some lines that turned me off. But this one paragraph near the end, when Neil is high in the desert mountains near the International Border, kind of redeemed the author for me: "A footpath crossed the road and headed north from old Mexico to New, from starvation to employment, from the heart to the brain, from despair to hope, from citizen to alien. The route was high, narrow, circuitous, exposed." It was the wolf path.

[Arizonagirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neil Hamel series, book #3. Neil is sent to ranch country to represent Juan Sololobo, a Mexican wolf advocate, as he gives an educational program about wolves. When the wolf gets loose and a local is murdered, Neil's client is suddenly under investigation for murder.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m partial to books about New Mexico and, while Soledad is a made up place, I know where it is. The lobos are being brought back to NM although the initial “pack” was loosed to the west of White Sands. The rest is a murder mystery with all the usual suspects. A fun read.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

listened

[LJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

THE WOLF PATH - Poor
VanGieson, Judith - 4th in series

Albuquerque lawyer Neil Hamel usually finds herself embroiled in environmental issues that erupt into murder. And this time--when the wolf that Juan Sololobo uses as part of his education campaign to reintroduce the endangered species to New Mexico is stealthily removed from its cage--Neil has her hands full: angry ranchers screaming that they'll kill the wolf before it decimates their herds; local trackers eager to pinpoint it for rich, jaded hunters; and a feisty client, Juan, soon accused of reckless endangerment, and more-- since he becomes the prime suspect when federal biologist Bartell, on the trail of the wolf, is murdered. Reconnoitering among some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet, Neil runs afoul of renegade wolf-breeders, drug traffickers, Mexican illegals, and several warring factions--the Wolf Alliance, the Wildlife Commission, etc.--but, with an assist from lover Kid, she scares off the worst of the bunch.

Never mind.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but not exceptional. I would give it 3.5 stars if I could. Lawyer must help an activist who is suspected of murder. The activist wants to reintroduce wolves to the White Sands area, a move much disliked by local ranchers. At the beginning of the book a reviewer likens VanGieson to Sue Grafton; not even close, an insult to Grafton and unfair to VanGieson. Recommended to people who like low-level mysteries.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mystery was very well written in general. In specific, I felt a bit preached to on the subject of wolf reintroduction. And the finale, pushed and pulled around a bit too much for my taste, suddenly had enough Spanish words that I regretted not being near a babblefish.

This is the edition I have read. I am glad a later edition has an update on what has been happening on lobo in the southwest US.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good mystery while raising environmental awareness painlessly. Great writing to boot, and unforgettable lines like "...having a Magnum staring at you helps you keep your thoughts to yourself." Which is very hard for Neil Hamel to do. Read it.

[Toesnorth's mom]

pretty good

[Elly Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 * enjoyed this a lot.