barbara fister reviewed Sinister Graves by Marcie Rendon
Review of 'Sinister Graves' on 'LibraryThing'
As the novel opens, it's early spring and Cash Blackbear is getting a ride across the flooded Red River Valley to meet with Sheriff Wheaton, her friend and former guardian, who needs her help identifying a native woman found dead. Cash is Ojibwe and can ask around the White Earth reservation to see what she can learn. Her inquiries lead her to a charismatic church out on the prairie led by a handsome pastor. There's something wrong, there. Cash sees a dark shadow lurking around the nearby cemetery where two graves raise questions. Another one of Wheaton's Ojibwe proteges names the dark shadow and takes her to a woman who can provide protective medicine. Clearly something bad is going on at that church and Cash is going to find out what it is. returnreturnI thoroughly enjoyed this mystery, the third in a series but the first I have read. Cash …
As the novel opens, it's early spring and Cash Blackbear is getting a ride across the flooded Red River Valley to meet with Sheriff Wheaton, her friend and former guardian, who needs her help identifying a native woman found dead. Cash is Ojibwe and can ask around the White Earth reservation to see what she can learn. Her inquiries lead her to a charismatic church out on the prairie led by a handsome pastor. There's something wrong, there. Cash sees a dark shadow lurking around the nearby cemetery where two graves raise questions. Another one of Wheaton's Ojibwe proteges names the dark shadow and takes her to a woman who can provide protective medicine. Clearly something bad is going on at that church and Cash is going to find out what it is. returnreturnI thoroughly enjoyed this mystery, the third in a series but the first I have read. Cash is an interesting figure, raised in abusive foster homes, straddling the White Earth and white communities as she plays pool, takes college classes, and drinks beer. The pacing is amiable and builds slowly to a dramatic resolution, tapering off afterward, keeping Cash's story well braided with the mystery plot. The style of writing is deceptively flat, like the landscape, but its matter-of-factness is never clumsy or inelegant. It fits Cash's straightforward character and pairs interestingly with the elements that are supernatural, but feel natural. I especially appreciated that the author doesn't pause to explain things to white folks; it's Cash's story, on her terms. I'm glad Soho is reissuing the previous books in the series and hope it will bring Rendon a larger audience.