The Witch's Tongue

Charlie Moon #9

by James D. Doss

Witch's Tongue: A Charlie Moon Mystery
"Strange things are happening near Granite Creek, Colorado, all in the space of less than twenty-four hours. A Ute shaman dreams of being buried alive and hears the hooting of an owl, signaling impending death. A man walks into Spirit Canyon and disappears, leaving his battered wife both relieved and devastated. A private museum is burgled. An Apache is arrested for assaulting a police officer. And a sniper takes a shot through an antique store window, wounding the proprietor.Part-time Ute tribal investigator Charlie Moon would rather be tending to his duties on the Columbine Ranch than playing detective with this puzzling collection of seemingly unrelated events. But when the local police and the FBI-including the beguiling Special Agent Lila McTeague-can't seem to put it all together, Charlie must connect the dots before anyone else dies. In James D. Doss's latest complex and absorbing crime novel set on the Ute reservation in Southern Colorado, Charlie Moon's cleverness and his aunt Daisy Perika's intuition-not to mention the spellbinding story behind this hell of a day-share the limelight with the vibrant details of Native life and custom."Keywords: FICTION MYSTERY DETECTIVE

Genres: Mystery, Native American, Fiction, Westerns, Humor, Indigenous, Crime

336 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

James D. Doss (1939, Kentucky, -17 May 2012) was a noted American mystery novel author. He was the creator of the popular fictional Ute detective/rancher Charlie Moon, of whom he wrote 17 mystery novels. James "Danny" Doss was born and raised in Kentucky and died in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He was also an electrical engineer who worked on particle accelerators and biomedical technology for the University of California's Los Alamos National Laboratory, while writing his novels. After retirement from Los Alamos National Laboratory, he continued to write his popular novels while living in Taos, New Mexico and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Doss

Reviews

[Laura Knaapen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of humor and wagering...and dead bodies.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Charlie Moon, a Ute tribal investigator in Colorado. good story, setting and plot, but it was unexpectedly not too engaging. Maybe because of the tongue in cheek tone and the constant puns.

[Jay Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie’s love life disintegrates at the beginning of the book, but don’t worry a new love comes along. The mystery centers around the theft of valuable antiques. While Charle is talking to a seller of antiquities, the seller is shot with a pistol which belonged to a missing Navaho. Daisy is important to the story. When her husband turns up missing, she runs to her trailer while Charlie is there. Dead bodies start showing up and the FBI becomes involved. Charlie provides unusual insights as they follow the bodies. It is a good story.

[Annie Pisarello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlie Moon, a part time Ute tribal investigator and rancher investigates a number of instances that come together into a crime/murder. His aunt, a ute elder and shaman, who lives in an isolated cabin in the desert, has been having dreams about spirits in movement. Charlie works with local police and the FBI to solve the complicated goings on and the crime involved. The story background is full of native imagery and legend. The mystery comes together with no loose ends. Good read.

[A.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series! Charlie Moon and his aunt Daisy Perika are two of my all-time favorite characters. The interplay between them is priceless. I love how Charlie says little and thinks deeply, figuring out answers from tiny clues, and arranging things so that he achieves the "right result," often benefiting others without letting them know what he has done. This world needs more people like Charlie Moon!

[Ginny Goldberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book lost my interest about a third through. I let it set for a while before picking it back up. I even read another book during the interim. I hoped that when I resumed reading this particular book that I would find something that would hook me and keep me reading until the end. That didn't happen until the last 10 chapters. Then it once more became interesting.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun. My first encounter with Charlie Moon and the other eccentric characters. The plot got pretty convoluted, but all worked out in the end, of course. I used to live in SW Cool., so I especially enjoyed the wonderful presentation of that beautiful setting. I'll be looking out for other books in this series.

[Andy2302 · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read with crisp dialogue. Sothern Colorado, pseudo Mystic old Ute, part time reservation investigator and plenty of fringe characters to keep you wondering. Fun to read but too convoluted for my taste. Obviously one in a stream of tales with a few loose ends to entice the reader toward the next instalment. Only 3 stars.

[Bonnie Novick · Rating 4 out of 5]

James D. Doss writes mysteries set on a Ute reservation in Colorado. Although I preferred the late Tony Hillerman’s books set on a Navajo reservation this was a good book with many cultural references.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 9th book in the Charlie Moon series. The quality and style of the series varies considerably. This is one of the better ones. It is full of the irreverent humor in some of the earlier books. I have been surprised about the 'straight arrow' detective's rather unethical means of obtaining money to finance the expansion his rather unprofitable though beautiful ranch. The downside to this book was that the banter between Charlie and Scott Paris was not as good as it has been and the rotation of uninteresting bedmates has become a bit tedious.

All and all this was a good book and I recommend it for fans of the series.

[Chick Marks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuously fun reading

[Ed Dodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best of the series

[Marilyn Saul · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable book and my first introduction to Charlie Moon. A little smarmy sometimes, but that's forgivable.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light hearted mystery between the Indian tribes of the southwest…it was good and I’ll try another one…

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read

[mandy newell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely adventurous and entertaining read. The way Doss sets up Moon and the criminal drama with his humor makes this series work splendidly.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

To me, the author’s witty writing style alternated between amusing and eye-rollingly tiresome. Most often being the latter, unfortunately. The story meandered slowly, stopping often to focus on seemingly irrelevant personal matters. The hero is likable, entertaining and fairly original but just wasn’t enough to make this an enjoyable read for me. In all fairness, I have not read the other books in this series. Maybe that would have made a difference.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series and this is the first one. It was good with likeable characters. I enjoy the Indian mysticism too. I will give the 2nd book a chance.

[Genie · Rating 5 out of 5]

James D. Doss' Charlie Moon series. "The Witch's Tongue" blends a complex plot with a touch of humor. Set in southern Colorado, this is ninth novel of the Ute tribal investigator Charlie Moon series. Charlie is a semi-retired investigator in the Ute Tribal Police Department and a successful rancher. Seems like an unusually large number of crimes have occurred on Ute territory. Initially these crimes seemed to be unrelated, however, it soon becomes obvious to Charlie that the incidents are related; the theft of rare gold coins from a family museum, Charlie and his poker buddy/antique dealer (Ralph Briggs) are attacked in the antique shop, an Apache involved in a traffic stop attacks the arresting police officer, and Jake Gourd Rattle abandons his wife and disappears into mysterious Spirit Canyon. At first the relationship between incidents are a puzzle to both the tribal police and the FBI. By the end of the novel, the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place. Of course Charlie's feisty aunt, Daisy Perika, a shaman who manages to blend Ute beliefs with Catholicism plays an important role in this complex tale. New on the scene is FBI agent Lila Mae McTeague who quickly becomes Charlie's new romantic interest. This is an entertaining, quick read. Parts are laugh out loud funny.

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very fun book. I really do enjoy these Charlie Moon mysteries for many of the same reasons that I enjoy the Ella Clah novels. Even though they take place in the southwest corner of Colorado on the Southern Ute Reservation, they also contain a lot of the Navaho mysticism and also that of the Utes. The Charlie Moon series are always such complex and adsorbing mysteries which demonstrate Charlie’s cleverness and his aunt Daisy Perika’s (the Shaman) intuition. It has been fun to watch through the series that Charlie Moon who was only a minor character in the first book move from an officer in the Southern Ute Police department, to detective, to acting Department Chief, and finally to gentleman cattle rancher and part-time “special tribal investigator.” The story is well thought out and humorous and loaded with the ambiance of the checkerboard reservation area located in Southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book I've read by James D. Doss, and so far it's my favorite. His dialog is once again entertaining, and the cast of characters is even better than in the other books I've read so far. I especially like the thoughts of his characters as they speak (in italics). The murder-mystery plot is well constructed and leaves the reader hanging on what has happened, sometimes until the end of the book. One chapter that was hilarious to me was when Charlie's aunt, the shaman, is tending to the injuries of a deputy. I'm looking forward to eventually reading all seventeen of Doss's books. His tales mix the intuition of Charlie Moon with the mysticism of his aunt, interspersed with humorous bantering between Charlie and the other characters.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a long-time fan of Doss' Charlie Moon series, but this one seems to have a lot more humour than previous books. I love the interaction between the characters, the blend of cultures, Ute, Apache and white, the glimpses of the old ways through Charlie's aunt Daisy - the elderly shaman, and the uniqueness of his mysteries. I would certainly recommend his books to those who like a dish of humour with their murder mysteries. For Tony Hillerman fans who are bereft of the famous Leaphorn & Chee Navajo series since his passing, this is a great series to check out.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

#9 in the Ute Indian Charlie Moon mystery series set in Colorado. Moon is a former Southern Ute Police Department officer who is now a rancher and part time Ute tribal investigator. He works with the FBI, Southern Ute Police Department, the Granite City Police Department and for a lady who had some valuable items stolen and wants them recovered. It also involves murder. Charlie is a wise cracking individual whose elderly aunt is Ute shaman. The mystery also includes aspects of Ute culture and beliefs.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ute Indian tribal investigator Charlie Moon gets tasked to resolve a series of strange, apparently unrelated occurences, including a disppearance, a burglary, a sniper attack, and an assault on an officer. Delightful, thrilling, and funny. Great protrayal of the mix of cultures and beauty of western Colorado, and excellent character development. �

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set on the Ute Indian reservation in southern Colorado, full-time rancher / part-time tribal investigator Charlie Moon investigates a robbery at a local museum and a shooting at an antiques store, among other strange occurrences.

The storyline moved somewhat slowly, but I very much enjoyed Charlie Moon's sense of humor and inner thoughts as he went about his investigation.

[Doug Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading books that are set in the area that I grew up. Doss has a way of presenting things clearly, with a great dry sense of humor. Don't miss out on his books.... easy reads, greatly rewarding!

[T J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A battered woman, a robbery and a cursed canyon, keep Charlie Moon working overtime to solve them all in his uncanny way. Throw in his feisty Aunt Daisy and it makes for one twisty, turny, humdinger of a mystery.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the characters, and their world and hope I get the chance to read the story again and/or to read more within the series.

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending is almost criminally sappy, the language is oddly formal while trying to be cowboy, and Doss lost the main plot inside the sub-plots for a while there, and yet somehow I still greatly enjoyed this book. I will be snapping up the other eight!

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first Charlie Moon series. I love the way Charlie looks at things. Aunt Daisy perils has a strange insight into the mysteries of the canyons near her home. This was a hard book to put down. I will be reading more of these.