Blood Memory

Starred review from July 21, 2008
Coel introduces a tenacious heroine, Denver investigative reporter Catherine McLeod, in this stellar first in a new series. After an attempt on her life, Catherine realizes she was far from a random target when Arapaho elder Norman Whitehorse informs her that she’s “one of us.” Adopted as a child and still unsure of her identity and heritage, Catherine begins to understand the deep connection she feels to her latest story, about the 1864 Indian massacre at Sand Creek. Whitehorse and Cheyenne leaders call for the tribes’ further compensation for Sand Creek, but when Catherine starts digging, she realizes that there’s more to the land fight than meets the eye, and the trail leads all the way to Washington. With a killer hot on her heels and his collateral damage accumulating, Catherine hurtles toward a conclusion that’s both fitting and unanticipated. A cameo appearance by Coel’s usual leading lady, Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden (The Girl with Braided Hair
, etc.), hints at a much welcome future collaboration between these two crime-solving women.

September 1, 2008
This is a stand-alone suspense story from the author of the popular Father John OMalley and Vicky Holden series (set on an Arapaho Indian reservation). There is still a link to Native Americans: the heroine, Catherine McLeod, an investigative reporter for a Denver newspaper, researches a land claim for 27 million acres of ancestral lands filed by the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes. The novel gets off to a pulse-pounding start with McLeod, out late at night walking her dog, becoming aware that someone is following herthis same stalker is linked to McLeods investigation. Coel skillfully shuttles between McLeods and the stalkers points of view, enhancing the cat-and-mouse game that drives the action. McLeod must cope with her grief over the stalkers successful attack on her best friend and with her still-raw feelings for her ex-spouse, as she attempts to determine what is behind the attempts to kill her. Gripping.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)