Winter Counts, by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
“Virgil, what do you do?"
I hated that question. It was such a white way of looking at the world, that a person is judged by their job, not their character.
On the Rosebud Lakota reservation, most crime falls through the cracks in the system. The tribal police are powerless, and the feds don't care about anything short of murder or large-scale drug dealing. Virgil Wounded Horse fills that gap by beating the hell out of wrongdoers, both for money and out of a sense of justice.
Virgil doesn't believe in the old traditions. After his sister died and his girlfriend Marie left him, his one source of stability is caring for his 14-year-old nephew Nathan. When Marie's father, a tribal councilman, asks him to investigate drug pushing on the rez, Virgil doesn't want to get involved. Needless to say, he does anyway. So do Marie and Nathan...
Winter Counts is a solid mystery with excellent characterization and sense of place. I really liked a lot of the characters, the plotting is well-done, there's some good action/suspense sequences, and there's a thoughtful examination of the characters' various relationships to traditional ways.
Something totally unexpected but delightful in this book is a running thread about food and how it shows culture and personality. There's a subplot involving a chef reviving indigenous foods that's both integral to the plot and really fun. Weiden has a sly sense of humor and an appreciation for good food that manifests in sending the characters to assorted restaurants, cafes, and cafeterias where can both describe the food and get in a little social satire.
I would have preferred more show and less tell in the epilogue - it wraps everything up too neatly, especially given the highly dramatic events of the climax. There will be a sequel and I'm grabbing it the instant it's out.
[image error] [image error]
[image error] comments
I hated that question. It was such a white way of looking at the world, that a person is judged by their job, not their character.
On the Rosebud Lakota reservation, most crime falls through the cracks in the system. The tribal police are powerless, and the feds don't care about anything short of murder or large-scale drug dealing. Virgil Wounded Horse fills that gap by beating the hell out of wrongdoers, both for money and out of a sense of justice.
Virgil doesn't believe in the old traditions. After his sister died and his girlfriend Marie left him, his one source of stability is caring for his 14-year-old nephew Nathan. When Marie's father, a tribal councilman, asks him to investigate drug pushing on the rez, Virgil doesn't want to get involved. Needless to say, he does anyway. So do Marie and Nathan...
Winter Counts is a solid mystery with excellent characterization and sense of place. I really liked a lot of the characters, the plotting is well-done, there's some good action/suspense sequences, and there's a thoughtful examination of the characters' various relationships to traditional ways.
Something totally unexpected but delightful in this book is a running thread about food and how it shows culture and personality. There's a subplot involving a chef reviving indigenous foods that's both integral to the plot and really fun. Weiden has a sly sense of humor and an appreciation for good food that manifests in sending the characters to assorted restaurants, cafes, and cafeterias where can both describe the food and get in a little social satire.
I would have preferred more show and less tell in the epilogue - it wraps everything up too neatly, especially given the highly dramatic events of the climax. There will be a sequel and I'm grabbing it the instant it's out.
[image error] [image error]
[image error] comments
No comments have been added yet.
