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Mystery Book ReviewsPage Two of ThreeDead Men Don't Dance by Margaret ChittendenKensington, 1997.281 pp. ISBN: 1575661845 Hardcover. Ordering information: Amazon.com. | Amazon.co.uk 
Part-time saloon owner and sometime amateur sleuth Charlie Plato is
hoping for a little peace and quiet after digging up a corpse last
year outside CHAPS, the country and western bar she owns along with
sexy ex-TV cowboy Zack Hunter and two other partners, but it is not to
be. Zack is running for City Council and Charlie is his campaign
manager. When Zack's opponent turns up strangled in Zack's trunk, the
police fasten on Zack as the most likely suspect. Naturally, Charlie has to find out who the real murderer is. Hampered by
Zack's secrecy about his past, Charlie nevertheless plunges into the
investigation of who might be trying to frame Zack, all the while
trying to evade the embrace of her irresistible, womanizing partner.
Charlie's had enough of philandering men from her disastrous first
marriage and is determined not to make the same mistake twice. Still,
Zack is charming and so attractive, even if he is wanted for
murder!
Dead Men Don't Dance is the second entry in Margaret Chittenden's captivating mystery series starring Charlie Plato and the irrepressible Zack Hunter. The world as seen through the eyes of the strong-willed Charlie is always amusing, especially when she is describing the sometimes pretentious characters she meets in the course of her investigation. Zack's troubled past is exposed in this story, which adds depth and character to his personality. The pacing is lively, the mystery is intriguing and the characters are people you'd like to get to know. If you haven't yet made the acquaintance of Charlie, Zack and all the gang down at CHAPS, you're in for a wonderful surprise. So grab your boots and hat and head down to CHAPS -- you'll be glad you did. Bad Medicine by Aimee and David ThurloForge, Nov., 1997.384 pp. ISBN: 0312863284 Hardcover. Ordering information: Amazon.com. | Amazon.co.uk 
Former FBI agent Ella Clah is now a special investigator for the
Navajo police force, having returned to the reservation she grew
up on after years in the Anglo world. Ella is caught in the middle
between her traditional Navajo beliefs and the Anglo world to which
she has grown accustomed. Her brother Clifford, a medicine man - or
hataali -- tells her that her special gifts of insight and knowledge
come from the spirits which guard the Navajo tribe, but Ella
maintains that it's just her specialized FBI training that makes
her such a skilled investigator. Ella will have cause to call upon
all her skills in her latest case. Racial unrest permeates the
Navajo-owned mine, a mysterious illness strikes the reservation and
a Senator's daughter is found dead after apparently ingesting a
deadly dose of poisonous jimsonweed. When Ella's close friend,
Medical Examiner Dr. Carolyn Roanhorse, is falsely accused of
falsifying the autopsy reports on the Senator's daughter,
tampering with evidence and starting the very plague she is trying
to cure, Ella redoubles her efforts to solve the murder of the
Senator's daughter's death, to clear Carolyn's name, and to defuse
the ticking time bomb of racial unrest that is simmering at the
tribal mine. Beset by prejudice at every turn from both Navajos
and Anglos alike, Ella must face the struggle between her Navajo
upbringing and her Anglo training, while solving her most
challenging mystery yet.
Aimee and David Thurlo clearly know and love the Navajo culture and their books provide an intriguing glimpse into life on the reservation while highlighting the differences between the traditional Native American beliefs and the values of the outside Anglo world. Ella is easy to identify with as she faces the prejudice shown women in a traditionally male job and the hostility directed at her by her own people because of the time she spent off the reservation learning Anglo during her stint with the FBI. An intriguing mystery, an interesting and likeable heroine and a rich, descriptive background combine to produce an excellent read. Mystery Reviews Page One | Mystery Reviews Page Three Return to Book Reviews Index ** To visit the archives of mystery books reviewed in The IWJ, please click here. |