Murder on the Red Cliff Rez

by Mardi Oakley Medawar

Book Overview

Murder on the Red Cliff Rez by Mardi Oakley Medawar released on Apr 24, 2004 is available now for purchase.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373264933
• ISBN13: 9780373264933
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Wwl Mystery
• Length: 253 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

an absorbing glimpse into another way of life

The Chippewa Red Cliff Reservation in Northern Wisconsin, hasn't known a murder in over 50 years. Life changes when the Tribal Lawyer is found shot to death on the floor of the Tribal Courthouse. Judah Boiseneau was not a liked man, everyone knew he was an abusive husband whose wife, eventually, turned to his cousin for love & comfort. There is no sign of the widow & her children.When another murder swiftly follows, & ceramic artist & tracker, Karen Charboneau, follows the clues, she & her sometime lover, the Tribal Chief of Police, realize that the murders are just the tip of the iceberg. That winter, unbeknowst to everyone, another form of decimation had occurred, & the repercussions are rippling through the Rez with startling & dangerous results.MURDER ON THE RED CLIFF REZ is a well-crafted mystery, with an amusing & deftly-drawn cast of characters. Mardi Oakley Medawar has lovingly painted the North Woods landscape & brought it into our sitting rooms to enjoy.Very well done!

exciting Native American police procedural

Crime is a rarity on the Red Cliff Reservation in Northern Wisconsin, but murder never happens. Yet someone killed obnoxious tribal attorney Judah Boiseneau. Following the requirements of federal statute, reservation Police Chief David Lameraux reluctantly informs the local law enforcement officials that a homicide has occurred. This only adds to David's pressure to solve the case as the tribe council, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the nearby local police demand he capture the felon like yesterday.Everyone believes the killer is Judah's cousin Benny Peliquin, who has vanished some where on the Rez. Desperate to find the missing suspect, David aversely turns to his former girlfriend Karen Charbonau for help because only someone with the skill of the Tracker (as she is known by all) would have a chance to find Benny. However, the cop wonders what they will discover when they catch up to Benny as David knows they will because Karen is the best.MURDER ON THE RED CLIFF REZ is an exciting debut of a contemporary Native American police procedural series. The story line is fast-paced and loaded with action as David and Karen search for Benny, but find more than they bargained for during their trek. The who-done-it engages the audience from the start and never lets go until resolution. Though the lead couple is developed to the point that readers understand them as individuals, the former relationship between the protagonists remained murky. Readers will feel gratified with Mardi Oakley Medawar's tale that provides a strong mystery and an insightful look at life on a Wisconsin Rez.Harriet Klausner

Indian author's amusing new series

Mardi Oakley Medawar is a brazen lady. Her new novel marches right into Steve Hamilton's staked claim, upstate Michigan/Wisconsin, looks around with its hands on its hips, and murmurs, "Eh, nice to be home." Then she proceeds to write a contemporary mystery with the political and social details of a good Hillerman story. And James Doss, eat your heart out. Medawar's silly characters with their high school antics are genuinely funny.A minor tribal official is murdered at the Red Cliff Reservation, and his wife disappears with the kids. Personal tragedy? Political assassination? Well, read it and find out. Medawar's new sleuth, Karen Charboneau, is an Ojibway potter back from the big city (Minneapolis). Her daddy, her uncle, and the chief suspect in the murder trained her to be a woodcraft genius, however, when she was a kid. So Karen ends up tracking down her buddy and mentor, four bumbling, squabbling cops in tow. Two of them have the hots for her, the third is a half-pint Casanova with the hots for everybody with ovaries, and the fourth is, well, a white boy from the city.... And then, in the middle of a bog, things get complicated.Medawar's plot is right on the edge of slapstick, with a hit man kidnapped from *The Goonies,* and the whole tone of the story has that "tall tale" broadness to it that can be alternately engaging and infuriating. Lots of shouting and running around. But it's fun to watch, and it gives the lie to that silly stereotype that Indians don't appreciate humor. Medawar is a Cherokee living at Red Cliff, and her characters and their story ring true.This is supposed to be the start of a new series. It looks like it will be good enough to comfort those of us who hoped, now that she'd found her stride with *The Fort Larned Incident*, that there would be more Tay-bodal novels.