The Girl with Braided Hair

One of the nicest kinds of surprise is when you discover an author, previously unknown to you, who pulls you into their stories, their characters, and their settings. Just by chance, going through the bag of "to be sold" books at my sister-in-law's house, I ran across this book by Margaret Coel. This is the 13th installment (of 16 total) in her series of mysteries based around the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming. The two protagonists are Vicky Holden, an Indian rights lawyer, and Father John O'Malley, pastor at the St. Francis mission on the reservation.
Father John is called in when the skeleton of a young woman is uncovered; she was apparently murdered in the early 1970's--a time when AIM was active and many of the AIM leaders sought to hide from their federal pursuers on the reservation. Vicky gets involved when a group of tribe elders (women) ask her to move the investigation along so the skeleton can be identified and given a proper burial.  Vickie knows that a 30+ year-old case is not only low priority for law enforcement, but also that people on the reservation will never talk to a white sheriff, so she agrees to help. Pooling their networks and information, Vicky and Father John identify the young woman as Liz Plenty Horses, who apparently had a baby with her just before being murdered. They both want the murderer brought to justice and it quickly becomes apparent that this person is not only still around, but is willing to kill again to keep from being found. Vicky is his initial target, but everyone she talks to also becomes vulnerable. Determined, they forge on and Father John is very nearly killed in the process. The culprit is finally caught, the now-grown daughter of Liz is found, and the dead woman is laid to rest on the reservation.
It is so exciting that there are lots more books in this series to read and I will definitely go back and start from the beginning with The Eagle Catcher, so I can watch these characters and their relationship develop. Oh boy! Coel has been compared to Tony Hillerman in a favorable way and, based on my initial contact, that seems warranted. Good writing and compelling plot line complement the well-developed characters and settings. Positive reviews here from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly.