Margaret Coel Books

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Margaret Coel, who has been a journalist and is a go-to historian on issues concerning the Arapaho Indians, is a septuagenarian American writer most renowned for penning the Wind River series. Father John O’Malley is the featured protagonist, alongside a contagonist Vicky Holden, in the Wind River series of books authored by Margaret Coel. The first book portraying characters O’Malley and Holden was initially published in 1995, called The Eagle Catcher, and the acclaimed series of books are filed away as mystery genre.

For starters, on the one hand, Father John O’Malley is a priest working with The Society of Jesus, truncated Jesuits. On the other hand, Vicky Holden is a lawyer and doubles as priest O’Malley’s go-to consultant on matters touching on the Arapaho Indians. The book commences with a high-profile murder which has been committed on one of the tribe’s leaders. Father O’Malley is prompted by a damnable and unbelievable claim, and is now angling for conducting a background check to approve and disapprove the pointer. It is in this context that priest O’Malley teams up with lawyer Holden.

The first book in the serialized Wind River Mysteries, The Eagle Catcher, starts by revisiting the death of Harvey Castle who, before he died, serve the Arapaho tribe in the capacity of a chairman. Antony Castle, who is the nephew of the now deceased Harvey, has been fingered for the killing. Is it a murder rap or otherwise? Either way, Father O’Malley does not and is not ready to believe until he gets hard facts.

Father O’Malley does not just let nephew Antony take the rap for the murder which he possibly did not commit. Instead, the two of them use clues which take them to far-flung regions of Wind River Reservation, a US Indian Reservation catering for Native Americans. In their quest for information, the duo witnesses fraudulent transactions. However, they had not bargained to a connection dating from the Old Time; incidentally, this time-frame denotes a bygone era when the members of the Arapaho tribe were uprooted from their ancestral lands after which they were taken to and resettled in the Wind River Indian Reservation. What ensues is an adventurous and murderous plot which has no doubt rubber-stamped the literary work of the woman of letters, and won Margaret Coel The Frank Waters Award in 2010.

Margaret Coel Awards

Margaret Coel has won a laundry list of literary awards for her life-long stint as a writer. In 2010, she clinched The Frank Waters Award and also won The High Plains Emeritus Award. Fortunately for Margaret Coel, she won the won the Colorado Book Awards six times,each award proffered for a specific book. Her 2000 book titled The Spirit Woman won the Colorado Book Awards in 2001. Her 2002 book called The Shadow Dancer won her the 2003 Colorado Book Awards. The two aforementioned books won in the mystery category.

The book entitled Eye of the Wolf, which Margaret Coel authored and was published in 2005, won the Colorado Book Awards in 2006. Her 2004 book called Wife of Moon won Coel the 2005 Colorado Book Awards in the mystery category. Winning the 2011 Colorado Book Awards for her 2010 book called The Spider’s Web followed hot on Margaret Coel’s heels.

Another award is the Willa Cather Award, under the Best Novel of the West category, which Margaret Coel won thanks to her 2010 book titled The Spirit Woman. Furthermore, she became a finalist for the Spur Award under the Best Novel category.

Best Margaret Coel Books

Incidentally, the complete collection of Margaret Coel is nothing short of excellent. Nevertheless, the following triad is the best, thanks to winning awards. One of them is The Spirit Woman; this multi award-winning literary work is, chronologically, the sixth in the Wind River Mystery series. Margaret Coel was inspired by a historical incident. Its plot is centered on a Father O’Malley and lawyer Holden who chances upon remains of a person at a riverbank. As the duo seeks to find out about it, they start realizing the fates of their then local guide and deceased scholars.

Shadow Dancer, which is eighth in the series, revolves around Father O’Malley’s gospel work in the wake of a damning accusation; a youthful person has vanished and it is alleged that lawyer Holden had a hand in it. The Girl With Braided Hair, which is thirteenth in the series, is all about Father O’Malley sleuthing after noticing that the law enforcers are not interested in the remains by the riverbanks.

Other Books Series You May Like

Bibliophiles who read the work of Margaret Coel also enjoyed the following. One, Aimee Thurlo’s Ella Clah series; this is about an ex-FBI member called Ella Clah currently working with a Navajo police force. Secondly, James D. Doss‘ Charlie Moon series is about an investigator-cum-rancher named Charlie Moon; to solve mysteries, he needs a sharp mind and supernatural intervention. Third, Tony Hillerman‘s Leaphorn & Chee series is about police officers fronting for the Navajo tribe.

When Does The Next Margaret Coel book come out?

Margaret Coel doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Man Found Dead in Park and was released on July, 20th 2018.

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