Sinister Graves

Cash Blackbear Mysteries #3

by Marcie R. Rendon, Isabella Star LaBlanc (Narrator)

Set in 1970s Minnesota on the White Earth Reservation, Pinckley Prize–winner Marcie R. Rendon’s gripping new mystery follows Cash Blackbear, a young Ojibwe woman, as she attempts to discover the truth about the disappearances of Native girls and their newborns.

A snowmelt has sent floodwaters down to the fields of the Red River Valley, dragging the body of an unidentified Native woman into the town of Ada. The only evidence the medical examiner recovers is a torn piece of paper inside her bra: a hymnal written in English and Ojibwe.

Cash Blackbear, a 19-year-old Ojibwe woman, sometimes helps Sheriff Wheaton, her guardian, on his investigations. Now she knows her search for justice for this anonymous victim will take her to the White Earth Reservation, a place she once called home.

When Cash happens upon two small graves in the yard of a rural, “speak-in-tongues kinda church,” Cash is pulled into the lives of the malevolent pastor and his troubled wife while yet another Native woman dies in a mysterious manner.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Native American, Audiobook, Indigenous

7 pages, Audiobook

First published October 11, 2022

About the author

Marcie R. Rendon is an enrolled member of the White Earth Anishinabe Nation. She is a mother, grandmother, writer, and performance artist. A recipient of the Loft's Inroads Writers of Color Award for Native Americans, she studied under Anishinabe author Jim Northrup. Her first children's book is Pow Wow Summer (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2014). Murder on the Red River is her debut novel.

Reviews

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started listening to this and thought "huh, Cash sounds different, the narrator isn't putting on that gruff voice for her anymore" only to realise...they changed narrators for this book for some reason?

I don't mind it, even though I was getting used to the previous one, I feel like that one probably suited the story more, but this one makes it flow better, if that makes sense.

Sinister Graves isn't too different from the past two books, Cash is still front and centre, but we do get to learn more about her abilities, and meet a potential love interest who might be sticking around for longer.

As for the mystery, when I heard "fundamentalists" I was like "oh no" haha, I knew I'd have a good time with it then, and I definitely did. There was even a scene where my eyes bugged out of my head, it was that out there.

I'm really enjoying this series, I hope it never ends.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about when a Native American woman's body is found in Minnesota, 1970s after retrieving the body the only evidence the medical examiner found was a torn piece of paper inside her bra, A hymn written in English and Ojibwe. Cash Blackbear, A 19 year old Ojibwe woman, sometimes uses her special abilities to help Sheriff Wheaton. First time reading anything with Marcie R.Rendon and hope not the last. The words just flow out so it made it very easy to read.

[Shirleynature · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worried for Ojibwa heroine Renee “Cash” Blackbear in this eerie 3rd volume of the mystery series. Cash is tough and independent at 19-years-old, attending college, earning cash when she can find farm work, and winning prize-money in billiards tournaments. And yet she’s still vulnerable; having endured abuse in foster care when she was younger, she never experienced the careful attention suddenly wrapped around her from a certain charismatic newcomer. When she meets Jonesy, a wise elder of the White Earth Reservation, Cash finally has a mentor to advise her with prescient visions. I appreciate this resilient, Indigenous-wise mystery series rooted along the Red River in Minnesota and North Dakota in the Vietnam War era. With emphasis on injustices endured by Native American families and children, this book is dedicated to #mmiw and #stolen children. Gratitude to author Marcie R. Rendon, an enrolled member of the White Earth Anishinabe Nation (Ojibwa Indians) in northwestern Minnesota and thanks to the publisher for sharing an advance review copy!

[Kimberly R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cash Blackbear is a 19 year old girl studying criminal justice. She also has visions that help solve cases. A murdered Indian woman has floated up from the flood waters and she helps sheriff Wheaton with the case. Clues lead her to White Earth Reservation to a creepy pastor and his wife that live by and have a church by a graveyard. Trouble arises and eerie stuff happens. This is the third book in the series and I raced through it. I can’t wait to read her other books. Thanks Goodreads for a copy of this book!

[Karl Jorgenson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rendon isn't getting better, and may very well be getting worse. The book is as short as a novel can be and still qualify, maybe 70,000 words, and that turns out to be its best feature. Most of it is 'tell' filler: Cash, the protagonist drives around, plays pool, drinks beer. All in summary, 'tell' form: 'Cash went to the bar and shot a few games of pool and drank four beers. Then she drove over by the river, looked at it for a while, then drove home and ate a sandwich.' That's as exciting as most of the book gets. If you subtracted the endless driving, looking, drinking, and pool shooting in summary form, there'd only be enough for five chapters left where Cash interacts with other characters. A young woman has been murdered and washed up in the river. The sheriff asks Cash to drive to the nearby rez and see if the victim is known there. The sheriff has other tasks pressing, like driving a promising art student on a week-long trip to an art school in New Mexico. Well, it's only a murder. Cash manages to do some accidental investigating: everybody knows about a bad-tempered guy who beats girlfriends. Also a church with a handsome charismatic pastor. Cash knows there's something going on here, because a dark spirit keeps hanging around and menacing her. Huh. I guess we didn't need the sheriff after all. Cash blunders into the arms of the killer and then escapes in the one scene worth reading. Rendon isn't a good writer, doesn't have a feel for mystery, doesn't use supernatural events in a suspenseful or exciting way, and can't even make a connection to the real-world disgrace of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, which she dedicates the book to. Part of the fault lies with publishers: in the old days (when a Native writer wouldn't have been given a chance,) editors might have reworked this book and educated Rendon how to create an intriguing mystery. Those days are gone; now the book is printed as written and the public gets to judge by buying or not buying. Sad for Rendon; crap for readers.

[Leslie Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cash Blackbear is back helping Wheaton. This time a Native American woman is brought to the morgue, and Cash is enlisted to help using her special abilities. This story centers around a pastor and his wife who head up a very rural church. This pastor encourages Native women to attend, which we as the reader know, is not going to be in their best interest. There is the introduction of Al, who rattles Cash as she knows what she feels for him is a little deeper than any of the relationships she has had. She also develops some friendships that we hope will be lasting and healthy for her. The readers are rooting for her to be able to slough off the damage that was done to her in the foster homes. Thankfully Wheaton is still there as the stable presence she needs.

[Anna Konopacky · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
The extra half star is just for Cash as a character
Disappointed in the use of a certain mental health diagnosis as a plot point

[Martin Maenza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sinister Graves, the latest novel by Marcie R. Rendon, will be released on October 11, 2022. Soho Press provided an early galley for review.

I got to know this author and series from the first title Murder On the Red River which we read for our library book club a few months back. I recently read the second of the series Girl Gone Missing as well. Taken together with this one, you can see the evolution that Rendon is going through with her heroine in this series set in the early 1970's. She writes about the Native American experience at the time with stories set in a locale that is familiar to her growing up. That grounds this whole series in a very believable, very comfortable setting.

Sinister Graves feels more like a mystery than the first two of the series. Those were very character-focused, setting up Cash and her world and outlining the changes the young woman is experiencing. This one has a stronger vibe to it as Cash, now more assured of herself, is actively investigating a murder and more. I like this evolution. The story this time is also very complex with many layers. I like that Rendon does not tie-up every loose end nor does she feel that every question needs a clear answer. This is just like life.

As with the first two books, this one is also a fairly easy going read. Again, I think that is due to the author writing from what she knows. It feels natural and organic because the author appears to be very comfortable with everything. I can also see Rendon growing as a fiction author as well, building on what worked previously as well as expanding her literary skills. I am enjoying being on this journey with her and Cash.

[kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you took out all of the sentences about smoking, drinking beer, and driving for the sake of driving, this would be a very short story indeed. The story was my least favorite because it felt the most like a Scooby Doo sort of plot with pesky young people solving of crimes.

[Miki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually would give this book a 3.8 instead of a 4 but I rounded it up.
Pros: 1. Keeps you turning pages to see what will happen next
2. I liked the setting being in the 1970's
3. The character is very complex and multi layered. If you like a main character that has flaws
keeps you questioning her actions, and is broken but climbing up to put her pieces back
together while you have a front row seat you will definitely love our main character Cash.
4. The twists and turns of the suspense were very interesting.
5. Strong interesting secondary characters.
Cons: 1. Lots of smoking cigarettes in this book. (I just kicked this habit a few months ago so maybe
I was overly sensitive to all the smoking cigarettes.) It almost seemed when the author got
stuck she'd throw in the whole process of lighting, puffing and putting out the cigarette.
2. Lots of drinking (bothersome for same reason as above)
3. Pool playing (again lots of it which actually didn't add a lot to the story)
NOTE: Cons listed above do help you see an inner glimpse of who this character is I just found it to be excessive
4. Some of the decisions Cash made regarding the preacher seemed out of character for the
tough, rough around the edges, hardened character we get to know. (This is strictly from
what we know of the character from this book standing alone)
RECOMMENDATION: I recommend reading this one. It is definitely worth the read and did keep me turning pages. I would also read other books about this character to follow her story and will be looking up the previous books in this series.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This book was won in a goodreads giveaway but this does not affect my review or opinion.

[Melodi | booksandchicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
I clearly walked into a series but it worked out. Our main character has a sixth sense of sorts where she can sense things that others cannot. Because of this she is sometimes called upon to help with detective work in small towns near her, regardless of her young 20 years.

The ambiance of this book was beautifully done. We drop into Minnesota, 1970's and follow our female protagonist, Cash Blackbear, a young Ojibwa woman. She helps investigate missing native girls. I loved the placement of religion and white culture and how they didn't always jive with the natives. This had layers of intrigue to consider.

[Ian Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another terrific Cash Blackbear mystery from Marcie Rendon In this 3rd installment we find Cash trying to uncover the identity of a native American girl who's body washes up during a flood. With no clues to the girls identity Cash begins to ask in the small towns in the area. During her search she becomes drawn to a small prairie church & it's charismatic Priest. Will she find the answers she seeks? Fabulous read. I urge you to at least try the series

[Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this third outing, Renee "Cash" Blackbear is once more asked to help out her friend, father figure and mentor Sheriff Wheaton. A woman who looks Native American is found dead in a flooded ditch near Ada, Minnesota where Wheaton works. Because Wheaton is white and Cash is Ojibwe, she is often asked to get involved in helping to identify crime victims. It doesn't hurt that Cash has second sight, although she doesn't reveal that to many, including Wheaton. This search for the identity of the dead woman "laying in the hospital" takes her to two reservations in Minnesota and one in North Dakota, to a "holy roller" church which she is warned off of, to meeting a medicine woman, Jonesy, who assists Cash, and to another murder in the area. All while driving through and around flooded areas and dealing with the mud left behind by annual floods in this area of the country. I will just say that this was another page-turner by Rendon - the best in this series IMO - that I burned through pretty quickly. I love how she sets her books in the 1960's, keeping them at a remove from current affairs but also imbuing them with issues still important to Native Americans. This book is dedicated to #mmiw and #stolenchildren two very important and current issues.

Why I'm reading this: I should really say "Why I read this" since I didn't even say I was currently reading! I liked the first two books in the Cash Blackbear series by local Minneapolis author Rendon and have been eager to get to this one.

[Richard Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great series that I just found out about. Cash Blackbear is a young Ojibwe woman who has been through much trauma in her life. With the help of the local sheriff, she has a good life in which she helps him with cases involving the local native americans.

She also has a few friends that she plays pool with and goes to college. This is set in the Vietnam War era. They don't have any modern gadgets to help solve crimes, but get things done with old-fashioned leg work. Cash's one problem is that she is impetuous and doesn't think of her safety when pursuing leads. On the other hand, it leads to finding clues others don't.

The case in this volume involves an unidentified woman who is found in floodwaters with a head injury. Another body is found and Cash discovers that a nearby "holy roller" church is the common thread between the two. She takes several trips to find information, including visiting an old woman who gives her guidance. There are some strange spiritual/black magic type of things, including a black shadow figure at the heart of the story. The preacher at the church has a strange family life that gets on Cash's radar. Things get exciting and dangerous from there. I enjoyed the action and street smarts that help Cash solve the case.

[Tonstant Weader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sinister Graves is the third book in the series featuring Cash Blackbear by Marcie Rendon. Cash is from White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota. Cash, unfortunately, grew up in a series of foster homes before Sheriff Wheaton, whose initial report sent her into the system, steps in and emancipates her with his guardianship. She helps him out on his investigations with a combination of intuition, ghostly dreams, and sheer doggedness.

In Sinister Graves, an unidentified woman’s body has been found and Cash is determined to find out who she is. Sheriff Wheaton is away so she’s working on her own for most of the case. In the process, she discovers another murder. Are they connected? She thinks they may be, but the evidence is uncertain. And what about that church they both went to? Cash goes and is drawn to the pastor and his wife, but she keeps seeing a malevolence in the churchyard that she terrifies her and demands her investigation as well.

Along the way, she meets White Earth residents who draw her into their world, one she was unnaturally denied through foster care. She meets a woman who understands her dreams because she also dreams. She makes a few friends, perhaps even a spark of romance. Of course, law enforcement in Detroit Lakes, a mostly white resort town, arrest her when she names a white suspect and it’s only through Sheriff Wheaton’s efforts that she is bailed out.

I loved Sinister Graves. This one brings her back home to White Earth, a place she has been alienated from by the foster care system that until the Indian Child Welfare Act too frequently separated Indigenous children from their heritage. This can be hard on the children who lose their language, religion, and culture to live in a society that does not accept them because they are not white. As in her other books, you see the cultural schism between the Reservation and the white society that surrounds it. You also see the schism in Cash, between her birthright and its gifts and the white society she grew up in. It’s not that she prefers white society, but she it is familiar. She is used to negotiating it.

As for the mystery, it was satisfying and complex while being completely fair. You learned as Cash learned and even her spiritual insights were immediately shared with the reader. I like that this story upended the usual serial killer scenario with such complexity and compassion.

The sense of place was well-done and authentic in terms of place. If anything, Rendon played down the intensity of the racial conflict of the Seventies. I grew up in White Earth and the dichotomy between white towns around White Earth and the Reservation was significant. Conflict was high because White Earth was trying (and is still trying) to get its land back, a conflict that was only partially settled in 1985, but one that exacerbated racism against the tribe and certainly would have had an effect on Cash in dealing with the Detroit Lakes police.

Sinister Graves will be released October 11th. I received an e-galley from the publisher through Edelweiss.

Sinister Graves at Soho Crime | Soho Press
Marcie R. Rendon author site

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...

[Lin Salisbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a guest blog post for Barnes & Noble’s BN Reads, Marcie Rendon wrote that the idea for her newest mystery Sinister Graves, was born in the late 1990s at a small cemetery plot in Idaho. On a road trip, she pulled over to see the graves of three children and their parents – the children all dying before they were two years old, and she wondered about how the children might have died. Her newest mystery in the Cash Blackbear series, Sinister Graves, places Cash smack dab in the middle of such a mystery.

On the dedication page to Sinister Graves, Rendon has included the #stolenchildren and #mmiw. The book was conceived long before the mass graves of children were discovered at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, Canada in 2021, but she has dedicated the book to the memory of the children as well as the countless missing and murdered indigenous women.

In 1970 in the Red River Valley of Minnesota, a snowmelt has sent floodwaters down to the fields of the valley, dragging the body of an unidentified Native woman into the town of Ada. Cash Blackbear, Rendon’s 19-year-old Ojibwe protagonist has been enlisted on several cases to assist Sheriff Wheaton, her guardian, on his cases. Her sixth sense – the ability to see spirits and situations in the past and the future – come in handy when there are few physical clues. In this newest case, the only clue is a hymn written in English and Ojibwe tucked inside the bra of a dead woman. Following her gut and this lead, Cash returns to the White Earth Reservation, a place she called home before being placed in white foster homes off the reservation. There, she finds two small graves in the yard of a rural Pentecostal church, and she suspects that the pastor and his wife may be able to tell her more about the young souls buried there.

Cash is one of my favorite anti-heroes – she’s a brash, beer-drinking, pool-playing Ojibwe woman who has aged out of the foster care system. In this newest installment, Cash is still attending junior college. She still smokes like a stack, but she’s less hell-bent on her own destruction. Wheaton’s newest young charge, Geno, introduces her to Jonesy, a Native woman who I hope will show up in future installments. Jonesy knows a lot about Cash, though she’s never met her before. She gives Cash a bag of Indian tobacco and counsels her to put some out from time to time. For someone who was removed from her culture and the elders who could have taught her, Jonesy may provide Cash with a bridge back to her Native roots.

“Keep the pouch in your glove box. Put some tobacco out when you’re gonna take off some place. You’ll be fine.”

Sinister Graves confronts the clash between Christianity and the misuse of power against Native Americans. It’s another heart-pounding mystery in the Cash Blackbear series from Marcie Rendon – there was not going to be any sleep for me until I turned the last page – but it’s more than just an engrossing read.

As Marcie Rendon writes, “Sometimes reality is too heavy to comprehend, but by using our creative energy, our creative life source, stories can be told in ways that are more palatable to the soul. Sometimes what is incomprehensible can be understood when it is fictionalized. In this way, not only can creative writing be a form of activism to create awareness and bring about change, but it can also be a form of healing. It can be a way for individuals to touch the flame, feel the heat, but not become burned.”

[Doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

10/17/2022 Mystery is fine enough, but the character study is unbeatable. Full review tk at CriminalElement.com.

11/14/2022 Was reminded to link to said review, so here 'tis!

[Amy D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

After loving the two previous Cash Blackbear books, I was so excited for this release that I had it marked on my calendar. It did not disappoint.

Cash Blackbear is a mature-beyond-her-years, 19-year-old Native American woman who was raised through the horrors of the foster care system. With her experience and intuition, she assists the local sheriff in investigations. The sheriff was out of state for most of this book, so Cash was doing most of the discovery and investigation on her own in this book as she tried to discover the identity of a woman who washed up with the river floods. Sinister Graves involved a local church community and some of the mysteries surrounding the pastor and his wife.

I enjoyed seeing Cash's growth from the first two books, particularly her confidence in social and daily settings. All three books have had very different stories/mysteries, and each reveal different societal issues/crimes. Rendon certainly does not follow any typical mystery storylines.

Although Cash crosses the Red River (dividing Minnesota and North Dakota) throughout the book, 95% of it takes place in Minnesota, which is an extra perk as a Minnesotan. It is interesting to read about towns that I've heard of, but are hours away from me.

While most of the book was set in a rural, predominately white community, I was still able to learn about Native American culture, particularly through one new character. (As a typical non-fiction reader, I enjoy fiction books that allow me to learn something, particularly about cultures different than my own.)

I listened to the audio book for this one, mostly because I loved the narrator from the previous two books. She was one of the best narrators for a particular book that I've ever listened to; her tone matched the book perfectly and even added to the enjoyment of the story. Unfortunately, this book has a new narrator. She was fine, but just didn't reflect the tone of the book as well as the previous narrator. If you like audio books, this shouldn't dissuade you, but if you are looking forward to the same narrator, be ready for a change.

Author Marcie Rendon has commented many times in interviews that Cash Blackbear brings the stories for her to tell. I really hope that Cash continues to share her stories with Rendon, so she can share them with us.

[Charty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was glad to see another book about Cash but I have to confess I had some issues with the book.

Cash, as a character, is so closed off. It was good to see her in this book questioning the state of her life a little bit. What should she be expecting from the men she sleeps with? Why is her apartment so bare of details or personality? She makes a good connection with the wise woman, Jonesy, which will hopefully help Cash connect better with her heritage and deal with how she often “knows” things. At the same time we see her taking these tentative steps to become a more healthy person, although a lot of this very slim book is a repetitive round of smoking, drinking, playing pool and driving around.

A propulsive narrative this was not (and that’s fine, there’s a certain meditative quality to the very deliberative pacing) but I feel like the author is going to have to find something more to fill out any future books.

The mystery is actually two mysteries- two dead women but with different causes. Cash stumbles on a different murder while trying to discover the identity of a women’s body that washes up during the spring floods.

Cash comes across a ‘holy roller’ church out on the prairie whose graveyard seems to be haunted by a malevolent ghost. She notices the oddity of two young children buried just years apart and it sets her to wondering about the parents, who happens to be the preacher and his wife.

I appreciate getting an opportunity to walk in Cash’s world, but I just wonder if the character as written, can continue to sustain a series.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third in a series of mysteries set in Minnesota, near the North Dakota border. Cash Blackbear is a 19-year-old woman, attending community college, working at various part time jobs, who helps out the local sheriff. She is a chain smoker, and heavy drinker, who loves to play billiards. Raised in foster care, the only family she is regularly in touch with is her brother who is currently fighting in Vietnam (this gives us the time frame of the novel as dates are not mentioned).

Cash is called in to help identify a Native American woman whose body is found after a wide-ranging flood. It is determined that she was murdered. Another body is found of another young Native woman and Cash begins investigating in earnest.

I loved that this is a compact novel at around 220 pages. I read this in a day. When I first became a fan of mysteries and crime novels, they were usually under 250 pages. Then for reasons I don't understand, they became more and more bloated. While some writers such as Elizabeth George and P.D. James excel at writing longer mysteries, the vast majority can be boring, meandering, and poorly edited. I hadn't read Rendon's first two books in this series, but that wasn't necessary for reading the third. I plan to read them soon.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yesssss. Cash Blackbear is back. This character has stayed with me for years and I'm thrilled that she has a new publisher and that the series is continuing. Set in the 70s, Cash encapsulates the struggles of many Indigenous woman have had to go through. Forcibly separated from her family and gone through foster care, she lives independently and is in college. She's helped Wheaton, the sheriff, in previous cases and that hasn't changed. An unidentified Indigenous woman washes up during the floods, and Cash goes to a reservation to try and find her identity. And, then a second body is also found. What makes these mysteries so interesting, is that they are so character driven and not a lot happens. The reader gets a lot of Cash's mundane day to day routine, school, driving around, smoking cigarettes and playing pool. And, in between she investigates. She's a bit emotionally stunted and often confused by things we take for granted, like the purpose of a telephone. But, she's slowly growing, as her life "normalizes." And, I'm really looking forward as to what Cash will do next.

I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was attracted to this series because of its uniqueness. It’s mystery without a trained detective; just a tough young Native American girl on the cusp of womanhood who is unrooted from her culture. Does she know who she is? She’s called “city Indian” when she’s out and about on the nearby reservations. She doesn’t speak or understand the Ojibwe or Chippewa language.

But she’s a survivor with a gift. She’d be considered a shaman. However her life is aimless. Her path, her destiny seems stuck. She seems rather ambivalent and almost indifferent to what’s happening. Pool(billiards), school, beer, smoking, and doing manual labor on a farm- that’s what this book chronicles. In this book Cash finds the killer of two Native women, deals with a dark supernatural spirit, meets an older woman with her same gift, and rescues a kidnapped baby.

I’ll continue reading just to see what life has in store for Cash Blackbear but her daily routine of pool, beer, and driving aimlessly around the Red River Valley is getting old.

[Ada · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

So.... I've been wracking my brain as to how to write this review. The subject matter of missing and murdered indigenous women was definitely a solid point in this book. I feel like it doesn't get the attention it deserves and it was a key point in the story. Also, the dreamwalking aspect was great, too. She also had the 70s vibe down.

So with that said, the writing just didn't do it for me. It was interesting enough to get through it instead of leaving it as a DNF, but I wouldn't say I enjoyed it. The writing was choppy, and the transitions were odd. A lot of the writing was, "I did this and then this and then this" and it just drove me nuts.

I'm glad that other people enjoyed this and I'm all for reading indigenous points of view, but this one just fell flat for me. The characters have some good potential in them so maybe with further writing they get more fleshed out since that was the most interesting part of the book.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, the North Dakotan setting is as much a character as any of the people who appear in the story. And overall I liked the setting more than Cash, the main character, although she was growing on me by the end. This is one of those books that is hard for me to review, because I think it's very well-written and has some interesting plot twists. At the same time, it's more noir style than I like, and I'm also tired of books where all of the Christian characters only represent the worst. (I also get tired of Christian novels that avoid showing those Christians who do evil things.) I long for stories where Christians just "are," both the good and the bad. I recommend this book for readers who want a picture of life on and near Native reservations as well as those who like a well-written noir thriller with a strong hint of the supernatural.

[David Schwinghammer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cash Blackbear is an enigmatic character. I was more interested in her personality than I was in the flimsy mystery element Marcie Rendon gave her.

Cash smokes, drinks beer, and plays pool almost constantly. Her adult role model is Sheriff Wheaton who relies on Cash to deal with developments relating to the White Earth Indian reservation. Cash is his ward as is Geno another young Objibwe without any parents. Her present case deals with a young girl who was found dead in the Red River Valley, almost annual, flood. Cash sets out to identify her when she learns of another dead girl, this one with an identity, but it seems she was murdered and there’s a suspect. Some of the town names will be familiar to Minnesotans. Detroit Lakes or DL as Cash calls it, Mahmomen, Ada, Fargo-Moorhead all make appearances.

There’s a connection between these lost girls and a nearby church. When Cash checks it out she’s struck by the graves in the cemetery. The pastor and his wife invite her to have dinner with them. At first they seem really nice, but on her third or fourth trip to the church, they begin to seem really strange. The pastor has a reputation as a ladies man. There’s some inappropriate touching going that Cash thinks might be a come on.

Cash doesn’t seem to have any close friendships other than pool buddies. Wheaton has encouraged Cash to attend college, and she meets a girl and her boyfriend who offer competitive challenges in that respect. They team up to play in tournaments, but that’s about as far as it goes. She also has a relationship with a married man which is really only about sex, and there’s a mechanic named Al she also met playing pool. She doesn’t really know how she feels about a close relationship. You see, Cash hardly ever answers her phone. When Al calls her the phone is either unplugged or Cash doesn’t answer. They seem to be heading towards a closer relationship when the book ends. Having had to deal with nasty foster parents, Cash doesn’t really trust anyone and she’s almost pathologically independent. The reader will keep hoping she lets people get closer to her by the end of the book.

Although I found Cash intriguing some of the stuff Rendon has her do, is rather unrealistic. Can you throw a paring knife at a man from across the room and have it stick in his neck? Not any paring knife I’ve ever used. Seems like it would have to be heavier and sharper than most paring knives.

Another less bothersome aspect of the story is the mysticism involved. Cash has an out of body experience. Well, I know that Indians believe in ghosts, so why not? They also have a closer relationship with nature and with animals. When Indians would kill a buffalo they would pray to its spirit thanking it for giving them food.

Somehow I missed the second book in the series, GIRL GONE MISSING. I know I’ll be reading that one and will be looking forward to the next one, if only to see if Cash and Al get together.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really getting into this series. This is the third of the Cash Blackbear books by Rendon and every one gets better. Highly recommended, a cut above the usual murder mystery genre. Great plots, super character, excellent evocation of the South Dakota land and a warm portrayal of the people who live there, both Native and white. (Despite the publisher’s blurb, this story and the others have little to nothing to do with the White Earth Nation, which is in Minnesota.)

[G Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge Cash Blackbear fan, I love riding around in her Ranchero chainsmoking and drinking coffee...I drink more coffee when reading these books.
I listened to the audiobook version and while I enjoyed the reader, I think Rendon's style is better on the page.
The plot and pacing of this one was much slower than Girl Gone Missing. Not was I was expecting, and some mystery readers may be mystified by all the slow periods. But there was great character development of Cash and other secondary characters, so now I'm looking forward to the next installment! When will that come out, Marcie??

[GEOrocks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another tough experience for Cash Blackbear as she tries to do the right thing as she struggles with relationships, college classes, working nights and helping the local sheriff with cases others don’t want to deal with.

[Amy H. Sturgis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This feels like a transitional work, as Cash Blackbear comes to new realizations about her future and its possibilities. I look forward to more novels in this series.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a Wild one this one is! Serious subjects dealt with here. I can’t give trigger warnings without spoilers. Sorry! Cash is such a real person, I love how she reacts to stuff! The end notes are Harsh, but True. Bring tissues!