Stone Butterfly

Charlie Moon #11

by James D. Doss

Ute shaman Daisy Perika is no stranger to eerie dreams, but when she has a nightmare, lives could be at stake. Convinced that her visions of a wisp-thin girl with blood dripping from her hands are omens, the old woman calls on her nephew, Charlie Moon. Moon, a part-time tribal investigator and full-time Colorado rancher, is skeptical, but he knows better than to dismiss his quarrelsome aunt too quickly. After all, she has been right before. But what can he do? Although Daisy can see what's left of a dying man's face, she can't get a clear look at the girl's. Without that, Moon doesn't have anything to go on.
 Then he gets a call about a very real murder. Sarah Frank, an Ute-Papago orphan and daughter of Moon's childhood friend, was spotted standing over the battered body with blood on her hands. Moon and FBI Special Agent Lila Mae McTeague cross the border to investigate, but they're too late. Not only has little Sarah vanished with a one-of-a-kind family heirloom, but Moon and McTeague aren't the only ones on her trail.
 Off the reservation and across states lines, James D. Doss's clever mystery finds Moon on the law enforcement side of the investigation and his aunt Daisy decidedly on the other.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Native American, Westerns, Indigenous, Crime, Murder Mystery

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

James D. Doss (1939, Kentucky, -17 May 2012) was a noted American mystery novel author. He was the creator of the popular fictional Ute detective/rancher Charlie Moon, of whom he wrote 17 mystery novels. James "Danny" Doss was born and raised in Kentucky and died in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He was also an electrical engineer who worked on particle accelerators and biomedical technology for the University of California's Los Alamos National Laboratory, while writing his novels. After retirement from Los Alamos National Laboratory, he continued to write his popular novels while living in Taos, New Mexico and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Doss

Reviews

[Laura Knaapen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Sarah Frank when she was first introduced as a character and staying with Daisy. Doss dropped her from the books with no explanation. Well, she's back, but she's in big trouble. There's a lot of shenanigans and spooky spirit stuff in this one.



***SPOILERS***
I am VERY mad that he killed off Fr. Raes. That was NOT necessary!

[Janet Mahlum · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cannot believe this is a 4-star book. I cannot believe all the 4 and 5 star reviews it got. The story itself is very, very good - lots of twists and surprises and dead coming back to life. But, the writing is atrocious. It is absolutely positively one of the worst written books I have ever read. If I were teaching Composition 101, I would tear pages out of this book, hand one to each student, and ask him/her to find an example of the very worst writing on that page and re-write it. I recently read Raymond Chandler - he can paint a masterpiece with less than 5 words. On the other hand, James D. Doss can use 10 words instead of one simple one and create a smear. For example: Instead of "cat," he writes "friendly creature of the feline persuasion;" instead of "cigar," we have "aromatic cylinder;" instead of "car," it's a "Ford Motor Company product;" the "phone" doesn't ring, "Alexander Grahm Bell's invention" does. When a character is mention, it's not by name, or gender, but rather by a list of adjectives: "the long-legged man," "The highly organized federal employee." Every other sentence starts with a phrase or clause. Someone must have told Mr. Doss to vary the subject/verb order of sentences was a measure of good writing - the more the better. The incomplete sentences drove me crazy. "Charlie Moon called his elderly (unnecessary adjective!) aunt. Told Daisy Perika where he was headed. And why." And finally, the coup de grace: the attempt at descriptive writing was disgusting, heinous, revolting, obnoxious, distressing..."The cosmic clock had not ceased to tick and tock [A favorite way of Mr. Doss to express passing time], and the rocky third planet continued its ponderous spin presenting that most compelling illusion of the Sun Sailing Serenely across the pale blue sea of heaven. Having peaked at an infinitesimally brief high-noon appearance, the neighborhood star had fallen into that inevitable decline which is the destiny of even celestial luminaries." My word! Does he get paid by how many adjectives he can pack in a single sentence? By how many different words he can use instead of "sun"? The writing is so stilted, obtuse, redundant and confusing it is difficult to read. I had to read one paragraph three times before I figured out Doss was talking about one dog and one horse and which he was talking about when. And the oblique references - they drove me crazy. On page 140/294 Doss writes, "Ben Silver's soul mate glared at the offensive thing." Ben Silver's soul mate is Daisy Perika? Why she is his soul mate we are never told. One lives in Utah, the other in Colorado. So far as the reader knows, the never met. This is the only time there is an implied connection between them. And Doss gets paid for this drivel! I wish Mr. Doss would set out the outline of his story and then pay a writer to do the actual writing.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all the books by this author.
I've read them all at least twice!

[Farhana Faruq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story, but don't know if I could take much more of the author's writing style.

[Bill Plott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doss sets his stories around the Ute reservation in Colorado. The principal characters are part-time tribal investigator Charlie Moon and his aunt Daisy Perika, a shaman who has vivid dreams. Daisy dreams of a young woman with blood on her hands. It is a scene that comes true when Sarah Frank is found with the body of Ben Silver. Did she rob and kill Silver or is there a connection with Raymond Oates, Ben's half-brother? Oates had been trying to persuade Sarah to steal something from Silver. Just what we don't know until near the end but it is a small item that Oats claims belongs to him. The brothers have had a bad relationship with Silver refusing to release the object. Sarah is soon on the run, pursued by law enforcement and by hoodlums hired by Oates who belief she has the coveted object. Doss tells a good story. I'll keep an eye out for other Charlie Moon novels.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The humor between the characters and the italicized thoughts add to the story and make the author's style unique. The story itself was very interesting. In my opinion, the problem comes in with the 'fake-outs'. I have read that when writing a mystery, the author should not make the solution something that the reader could not have possibly deduced. I agree with that statement. It seems to be that is exactly what Mr. Doss did with this story. I guessed the major fake-out because I have become familiar with the authors style. I watched for clues and did not see them nor did I recognize them when the solution became clear. I don't mind being surprised, I don't like being tricked. It almost seemed like a Hollywood ending to a series that negates everything that happened. Though not quite that bad, it did not seem as good as it could have been. Still, overall I did enjoy the book and the characters a lot and will continue to read the series.

[Mike Gowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. I was a little thrown off by the author's trick of showing a critical scene but not dropping the name of the character. He's a bit like Agatha Christie in that respect, except Doss' scenery is southern Colorado and his people are cowboys and Southern Ute Indians on the reservation. At any rate, I accepted the challenge and tried to figure out who dunnit and who it got done to. In that spirit, the plotting is very clever and makes a lot of sense. I'll read more of this authors' mysteries.

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was the best one in a great series of books. I don't know what some of the reviewers were reading. I was reading an excellent, enjoyable book. I would highly recommend this series, this author and this book. And no I'm not an illiterate moron. This is good regardless of the negativity of some readers.

[A.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This thoroughly engrossing series has everything I want in a mystery novel: interesting characters, complex plots, rich history, scenic locale, plenty of action and hints of the supernatural world that is all around us, yet unseen. Can't wait to read more! (And I love Sarah Frank, who appears here in her third Charlie Moon mystery.)

[Johan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointed

I've given this some thought. I know that James Doss is an excellent writer so I'm not sure what happened here. The twist at the end was poorly constructed and turned me away from reading further books in this series. This book got drunk and silly, it was disjointed and the plotline fell apart into lala land. It could have been a good book, it just wasn't.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

So very good but I feel a bit cheated by 3 separate fake-outs. Not just being misled on the identities of not one but two murder victims, but even the book title is intentionally misleading. If you enjoy that--have at!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Doss has polished his skills at twists and confusion in his books to the point that the reader is just a long for the ride. There's no point in guessing who's the bad guy(s) because the reader never gets full information till the ending recap. Still, it's a fun, interesting ride.

[Robert Lariviere · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read in an interesting seies .

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again Charlie Moon is caught up in his aunt Daisy Perikas shenanigans. A wholesome, funny but sometimes sad read.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read

[mandy newell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story but the ending was complicated.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for a husband/wife book group. It's a mystery that includes a little mysticism and culture from Native Americans. I enjoy the snap shot of Native American culture. The mystery was interesting. It's not the first I have read with the same characters and it's fun to catch up with their lives. I didn't see some of the twists coming, but got most of them. Overall, it was a solid mystery.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading murder mysteries set in the Southwest. This is part of a series that adds details of the characters lives in each book. You never know if the Tribal policeman is just slow, smarter than you think or what. The mystery/murders get solved and the reader is ready for the next book to come.

[Felicity · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't finish it. In fact, I tossed it. Adios, unlamented, unfinished, ungood book.

Wow is this ever terrible. Someone needs to take this man's thesaurus away before he ODs on adjectives. No noun is left unqualified. And he refers to cars as "that product of the Ford Motor Company." Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie Moon's aunt Daisy Perika is an old Ute shaman. When she has a nightmare, lives could be in danger. An old family friend is found standing over a murdered man with blood on her hands. When she vanishes with a family heirloom, Moon is not the only one searching for her.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Oates....doesn't know when to quit. The character I wanted to survive the book did, dispite my thinking she hadn't. But other characters died for little reason. I prefer the Kellerman book to this one.

[T J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aunt Daisy nightmare is bloody and disturbing, but when she finally see who is involved, she sets in motion a unpredictable outcome of this who-done-it. Charlie Moon is on the case and worried for many reasons. One awesome read.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the characters, and their world and hope I get the chance to read the story again and/or to read more within the series.

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I've found a new mystery series to read through! Doss kept me guessing the entire time. His wit shines through every page, and his use of alliteration to describe the scrubby Southwest is incredible.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good...but the ending is sort of a out of left field concept.

[Toni berkshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish I could go to this ranch in Colorado even tho it is fiction.

[Cws]

M Dos

[Ludwig · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book good twist

[David Bock · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was really hard to keep my interest.