Eye of the Wolf

Wind River Reservation #11

by Margaret Coel

When a psychotic killer stalks the Wind River Reservation, murdering three Shoshone Indians and posing their bodies on a historical battlefield, Father John O'Malley and Vicky Holden launch an investigation to uncover the motives behind the killings.

Genres: Mystery, Native American, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Crime, Detective

336 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2005

About the author

Margaret Coel is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of the acclaimed novels featuring Father John O'Malley and Vicky Holden, as well as several works of nonfiction. Originally a historian by trade, she is considered an expert on the Arapaho Indians.

Reviews

[Sara the Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another entry for the "eh" shelf. While there's nothing exactly wrong with this very traditional mystery wherein the priest at a Native American reservation in the midwest solves a murder with a local native american lawyer, there was nothing especially astounding about it either.

We're kind of dropped into the middle of the story which I never mind but is pretty problematic for the first book in a series. We're told an awful lot about the town we're in, the people who live there, and the plight of Native Americans in modern America but we're never really shown a thing.

Much is made over a very blah attraction between the priest and the lawyer and the cops are on the trail of a violently psychotic local tough who the lawyer is convinced didn't do it as was I since the murderer is incredibly obviously introduced on like page 10.

I confess I'm a little baffled by the popularity of this series or this author. This is a very correctly plotted cookie cutter mystery with no passion, no substance and thusly no interest at all for me.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As is often the case in this series, the reader learns something of the history of northern plains, in this case, the wars fought between Indian tribe in the 1800s. As is often the case in this series, at some point either Father O'Malley or Vicki (usually both) will run headlong into a predictably dangerous situation without telling anyone where they are going. This time, for a change the book begins with Father O'Malley driving up into a remote area where he has heard there are dead bodies. He follows the tracks of a vehicle into the area, never guessing that this might be the person responsible for said dead bodies. (I mean, it seemed obvious to me it wasn't a good idea.) I do have to say that the at the end of the book Father O'Malley does try to get the police interested before he takes off to confront a possibly armed madman, and he does take backup. And Vicki! She heads off into a snow storm in the northern plains. She has lived there all her life and doesn't know this isn't a smart thing to do? Also, this is a woman who left a bad marriage and leaves her children behind on the reservation while she completes college and law school, showing a certain amount of stick-to-itiveness. But since her first appearance in this series she had come home to the reservation, started her own office, moved back to Denver, stir repeat. Now she has left her own office to start an office with a possible romantic interest only to decide overnight to move out--and start her own office. And the men! Her former husband, Father O'Malley (he's a priest, get over it). and now this new lawyer. Can't she be without a man? If either Vicki or Father O'Malley wrote in to Dear Abbey she would say Vicki should show some perseverance and complete something while he should move on.

So why 4 stars? I do like the setting, the feeling for the northern plains, and I was interested in finding out the solution to the murders.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 11th Book in Margaret Coel's Series on the Wind River Reservation. The series keeps getting better. The author's writing style has gotten better and the clarity of the story has increased. This is a good novel for light reading. It also provides an insight into a Native American issue that many do not know exist or prefer to ignore. This is intertribal strife. As the author writes, many people prefer to look at the Native American tribes as being united in brotherly love and opposed the white and black settlers who moved onto and through there land. The backdrop of this mystery is intertribal strife caused by strife between two traditional enemies - the Arapaho and the Shoshone. Specifically, it is about revenge between the two tribes over the Bates Battle in 1874.

I enjoyed this book. Ms Coel is a historian. Her novels contain accurate history and ethnic insight. This book is not an in depth, highly developed intellectual novel. It is instead, well-written light mystery reading. The unrequited love between the two main characters in the series may interest some readers. What I find interesting is the way she uses her novels illustrate Native American history in Wyoming.

I recommend this book for anyone that likes the Native American mystery genre. It is not appropriate to compare these books to the works of Tony Hillerman or James Doss. Coel's books have an undercurrent of romance. I would compare her work more directly with those of Aimee and David Thurlo.

[Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The past haunts us all but especially those who suffered and were humiliated. Margaret Coel paints a wonderful picture of how the past walks alongside us, driving us, undermining us; the memory of a massacre and betrayal, the pull of addiction and the constant fight against alcoholism, the scars of a failed marriage. I saw the ending from an early point but enjoyed the story nevertheless; the fear that a community feels when old ghosts are resurrected, old bonds are tested, trusts are undermined. The cold and brutal landscape reflects the mood.

[Cynthia Sillitoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like these books, but sometimes they blur together, particularly as the protagonists are caught up in a relationship that can't change. Unlike some other series--like Dana Stabenow or Deborah Crombie--the secondary characters mostly aren't memorable or well-developed enough to make up the difference.

[Jay Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Arapahos revere there past. Here, the story is about a battle (a massacre) where the Shoshone lead the soldiers to the Arapaho camp and kill 41 men, women and children. 3 Shoshone dead and posed at the battlefield. Thus begins another whodunit. I like this series and this one was especially good. A mystery in Western Wyoming where you see and feel the cold.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could feel the cold and wind on the plains blow through my clothes. Imagine the dark and desolate places the characters were in. This is a powerful story of greed and pride.

[Bill Plott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ongoing saga continues on the Wind River Reservation, inhabited by both Arapaho and Shoshone peoples. Three young Shoshone college students are murdered and their bodies placed in grotesque postures that emulate a hundred-year-old massacre of Arapahos by Shoshones. Is an Arapaho exacting revenge for the ancient crime? Is modern tribal warfare imminent between the two? Father John O'Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden pursues answers from separate positions that will eventually dovetail. And what about Jason Rizzo, an avowed white supremacist? Could he be the fomenter of future violence? The events are uncannily time with release of "Tribal Warfare," a new book from history Professor Charles Lambert, assisted by his young wife Dana. And as if something else was needed, Father Ian, O'Malley's new assistant, is also a recovering alcoholic in the controlled drunk stage. One of the best in the series.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best Margaret Coel has offered in this series, but a decent page-turning "Wind River Reservation" murder mystery...I've read enough of them now to have the titles flow together like the Dick Francis mysteries...Thank God for Goodreads keeping my reading list together...Fr. John & Vicky, from very distinctive perspectives, are drawn into the mysterious murders of three Shoshone young men, on an old battlefield where the Arapahoe and Shoshone fought during the Indian Wars...This shocking murder is threatening to tear the shared tribal reservation apart...Amidst the mystery, Coel delivers some wonderful insights into issues that alcoholics deal with...Good Stuff, though not her best!

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is for the Indian priest.The cryptic message was clearly meant for Father O’Malley. The unemotional voice on the answering machine, speaking of revenge against old enemies, wanted O’Malley to visit the site of the Bates Battle. In 1874, Shoshone warriors led Captain Alfred Bates’s cavalry to Arapaho tribal grounds, and nearly everyone living there was massacred. As a nation, the Arapaho were finished, but their people survived. Now, someone has left three dead Shoshones on the old battlefield, positioned to mimic the bodies of those Arapaho killed in the historic slaughter.

Vicky Holden’s latest client, Frankie Montana, has become the number one suspect in their deaths. Despite his less than sterling background, Vicky doesn’t believe he’s capable of murder. Someone is trying to stir up a war between the Arapaho and Shoshone people—and tear open the painful wounds of the past once more…

[Larry Molter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some previous reviewers are correct in that these novels tend to run together -- a murder (or other heinous crime), Father O'Malley somehow involved, a new assistant priest, and Vicky Holden on a side topic that intertwines with the main plot (and she has man-trouble to boot). However... I still enjoy them as an escape (much as I escape with Janet Evanovich, or the Chet and Bernie series). The author does what made Tony Hillerman so good -- a mix of history and vivid pictures of the landscape and its people. Her writing style is fluid and descriptive but not to the point of overdone. I've tried Aimee Thurlo's Ella Clah series, but I can't get through these anymore. Terse descriptions, weak characters, and too much FBI involvement. Yay for Margaret Coel!

So, the review -- If you like Ms. Coel's books, then this one doesn't disappoint.

BTW, I only read this one once -- the number of 'reads' is incorrect (again).

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The historic elements. Lots of conflict is produced by this, but also Vickie's wavering feelings for Father O'Malley and Adam Lone Eagle are conflicted. And, her predisposition to help her family tribe legally vs. Adam's legal emphasis on bigger tribal legal issues. There are conflicts between whites and natives. Conflicts of priests and alcohol addiction. But the historical is always important--the Bates massacre--who survived? The picture of the massacre even pitted a professor against his wife.

[Sidney Rippy McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Nice History Lesson

I have always been interested in NA history, but was not familiar with the Bates Battle. I’m glad that now I am.
If you’re interested in Native culture, especially Arapaho, I recommend this series. It rings very true to their culture to me.
I have to admit that at this point, I’ve realized that few characters are written into these stories unless they are possible suspects, so I figured out who the killer was pretty fast. That’s OK, it’s still a mystery how they did it and how John and Vickie figure it all out.

[Johan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Margaret Coel

What happened here? I had hopeful expectations after the excellence of book 10 but this one was almost painful to read. Almost quit in the middle. Way too much needless description, repetition and disjointed flow. Her characters didn't ring as true. Poorly edited. I've invested in 11 books but unsure if I will buy more. Makes me wonder why the excellence did not continue...went way backwards.

[Carolyn Virginia]

I was disappointed.  I thought the story was lame…I had figured out who did it pretty early on. The basic story is that they think Arapaho are murdering Shoshone (on whose reservation they live) in order to avenge a massacre of the Arapaho that occured in the 1800's. I continue to like the twist of including history in her stories.   It seems Vicky is getting weaker & weaker; it's becoming almost like a romance novel,,,that ongoing story of Vicky and Father John is really tedious! 

[Lorraine McCleary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three Shoshone young men are shot and positioned on an old battlefield where the last Arapahoe massacre led by the American Army and scouted by Shoshone warriors occurred. All three men were students at a local college, taking a class on Native American battlefields. Is it a White supremacist whose angry his former white girlfriend is living with one of the Native Americans killed? Or is it linked to the professor of the college class who has a new book coming out?

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always Margaret Coel's work and this was no exception. The story and intrigue of murder on the reservation of 3 Shoshone men and the possible tribal war that could result between the Shoshone and Arapaho people that would mirror a long past battle puts Father John and Vicky together again in helping to solve the crime. Good entertainment.

[Gareld Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's storytelling is definitely improving. I found this an interesting story without quite the focus on the relationship on Father O'Malley and Vicky. Vicky seems to be getting tougher while Father O'Malley remains the quiet, understanding, rational one. I found the purpose for the murder a bit of a stretch but then that actually made for a better story.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these Wind River Mysteries. Father O'Malley has received a cryptic and frightening message that leads him to find three bodies at a battle site. The three happen to be Shoshones who immediately are sure that an Arapaho killed them. The situation threatens to erupt into war on the reservation. Good plot and we got to see all of our favorite characters again.

[George · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best Margaret Coel has offered in this series, this one drags in the middle and gets repetitive to a fault. The idea of an Arapahoe - Shoshone war is on every page and it doesn't take too long to figure out that the history professor's wife did the murders to promote his book. Then, it's just blah-blah-blah for the final 80% of the listen.

[Giselle Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fulfilling read from the Wind River area of WY by Margaret Coel. I always learn something new about the Arapaho and other tribes when I read one of her books. Father John & Vicky do make a good team but sometimes I cringe at what could happen to them. It will be interesting to see if Vicky and Adam can make the business and personal life work for them.

[Wanda Hargrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye of the Wolf was a nailbiter. Constantly kept me guessing, and I never had any idea who the killer was until Father John O'Malley started putting it all together towards the end. I had three suspects and was totally blown away when I found out who the real killer was and why.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this one like I have other ones in the series.
This one seemed to overdo the drama. It just seemed like one overwrought situation to the next with pages devoted to the emotions of grief. It was too much for my Midwestern Scandinavian upbringing to enjoy!

[Regan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best of this series. I knew who the killer was as soon as that character opened their mouth, but it did not stop my enjoyment of the book. Coel's passing was such a loss to the reading community.

[Kathy Parks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series

I really enjoy this series. Good character development, interesting plots, sympathetic characters. Seems to be a decent representation of the conditions of life of the Native Americans.

[Be Quiet Mommy's Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite in the series so far! Relationship drama! Enough suspects to keep you guessing but not so many you get lost. Plus environmental law, tribal history, and strong women up against it, making their way.

[Penny Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always entertaining, always the bittersweet ending

[Caroline Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent! One of Coel’s best!

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was so so. Dont want to read anymore by this author tho

[Stephanie Tanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Father O’Malley and Vicky are involved in a murder that takes place in an ancient Indian battle ground. An interesting view of the tensions that can be set off by “fake news”.