Advance review of The Red Power Murders

I received an advance readers copy of The Red Power Murders, "a Thumps DreadfulWater mystery" novel, from the HarperCanada First Look program at http://www.harpercollins.ca . The release date is set for March. The author, Thomas King, is a university professor and a member of the Order of Canada, which is cool; Canada is mentioned a number of times in the novel, although it is set in the US. I'd love to hear any comments from anyone who has read the previous book DreadfulWater Shows Up especially, or any of his other books.

Today's review:

The Red Power Murders by Thomas King "writing as Hartley GoodWeather"

This is an old-fashioned detective/mystery story, with a twist: the “detective” is Thumps DreadfulWater and the mystery centres on events that took place years ago involving the “Red Power” Native movement when FBI agents were killed and a Native activist disappeared. When more bodies start to pile up in the little town Thumps lives in now, he knows that solving this depends on finally solving the mystery of what happened all those years ago.

The small, mainly Native town of Chinook is a different and refreshing setting for this type of novel. The Red Power Murders is a good mystery that, while not a suspenseful page-turner, nevertheless keeps the reader guessing. With a wry sense of humour to lighten the tone, this book is perfect for a winter night by the fire.

Happy reading!