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Cash Blackbear Mysteries #4
Broken Fields
Cash Blackbear, a young Ojibwe woman, is back on the case after two men are found dead on a rural farm in Minnesota in the next installment of the acclaimed Native crime series.
1970s Minnesota. It's spring in the Red River Valley and Cash Blackbear is hoping to make some spending money doing spring field work for local farmers while attending college—and she finds a dead man on the kitchen floor of the property's rented farmhouse. The only possible witness to the murder is the young daughter of a Native laborer. The girl is too terrified to speak about what she’s witnessed, and her parents seem to have vanished.
In the wake of the murder, Cash can't deny her intuitive she is suspicious of the dead man's grieving widow, who offers to take in the girl temporarily. While Cash scours the county and White Earth reservation trying to find the missing mother before the girl is placed in the care of a social worker—the same woman who placed Cash in foster care a decade earlier—another body turns up. Concerned about the girl's fate, and with the help of local Sheriff Wheaton, Cash races against the clock to figure out the truth of what happened in the farmhouse.
Broken Fields is a compelling, fast read with seamlessly woven in details of rural life, the American Indian Movement, abusive labor practices, and women's liberation.
1970s Minnesota. It's spring in the Red River Valley and Cash Blackbear is hoping to make some spending money doing spring field work for local farmers while attending college—and she finds a dead man on the kitchen floor of the property's rented farmhouse. The only possible witness to the murder is the young daughter of a Native laborer. The girl is too terrified to speak about what she’s witnessed, and her parents seem to have vanished.
In the wake of the murder, Cash can't deny her intuitive she is suspicious of the dead man's grieving widow, who offers to take in the girl temporarily. While Cash scours the county and White Earth reservation trying to find the missing mother before the girl is placed in the care of a social worker—the same woman who placed Cash in foster care a decade earlier—another body turns up. Concerned about the girl's fate, and with the help of local Sheriff Wheaton, Cash races against the clock to figure out the truth of what happened in the farmhouse.
Broken Fields is a compelling, fast read with seamlessly woven in details of rural life, the American Indian Movement, abusive labor practices, and women's liberation.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published March 4, 2025
122 people are currently reading
4758 people want to read
About the author
Marcie R. Rendon
19 books910 followersMarcie R. Rendon is an enrolled member of the White Earth Anishinabe Nation. She is a mother, grandmother, writer, and performance artist. A recipient of the Loft's Inroads Writers of Color Award for Native Americans, she studied under Anishinabe author Jim Northrup. Her first children's book is Pow Wow Summer (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2014). Murder on the Red River is her debut novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 179 reviews
July 11, 2025
I've now spent my February in the Red River Valley in Minnesota with Cash Blackbear and I must confirm that I've enjoyed my time with her. I've read all the books up till now and I've enjoyed them.
Let's just say that Cash is complicated. I've now been with her for some time, seeing her grow, her whys and wherefores though the series up to now. Rendon takes the opportunity to show how each incident even the smallest effects Cash and how she is working through her grief and trauma. Grief and trauma are a filter through which we see the world and our lives and effect our lives accordingly.
Rendon through her stories explores how the violence, trauma done to her people has a generational effect. It does not stop with the actual victims but it’s visited on their children. The children inherit the effects of the trauma, the bad decisions taken because of the trauma and coping with it have a direct effect on them. Their own reactions and possible bad decisions then effect their own children and so on and so forth. What seems of little importance to people who are not traumatised or downtrodden can have a big effect to those thus effected.
Broken Fences is the 4th in the series. Although you’ll probably do just fine reading them as standalones, you’d miss Cash’s personal arc which I’m very interested in.
An ARC kindly given by author/publisher via Netgalley.
Let's just say that Cash is complicated. I've now been with her for some time, seeing her grow, her whys and wherefores though the series up to now. Rendon takes the opportunity to show how each incident even the smallest effects Cash and how she is working through her grief and trauma. Grief and trauma are a filter through which we see the world and our lives and effect our lives accordingly.
Rendon through her stories explores how the violence, trauma done to her people has a generational effect. It does not stop with the actual victims but it’s visited on their children. The children inherit the effects of the trauma, the bad decisions taken because of the trauma and coping with it have a direct effect on them. Their own reactions and possible bad decisions then effect their own children and so on and so forth. What seems of little importance to people who are not traumatised or downtrodden can have a big effect to those thus effected.
Broken Fences is the 4th in the series. Although you’ll probably do just fine reading them as standalones, you’d miss Cash’s personal arc which I’m very interested in.
An ARC kindly given by author/publisher via Netgalley.
March 21, 2025
I love the whole series, but this might be my favourite book in it, I adored little Shawnee ), and all the character development we got. I can't wait for the next one!
4.5
4.5
August 2, 2025
The writer has really hit her stride in this book, the 4th in the series. The main character, Cash, has started to undergo some real character development and that makes all the difference.
March 1, 2025
I received a copy for review purposes. All opinions are honest and mine alone.
BROKEN FIELDS, by Marcie R. Rendon, is 4th in an ongoing series and easily read as a standalone. Rendon provides enough background for readers to understand what happened to lead character, Cash.
Cash is a complex, young indigenous woman who harbors an intense amount of anger, resentment and pain resulting from her life spent in the foster care system. The story takes place in the late 1970’s, (her having grown up in the 60’s-70’s) when Indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in “Christian” homes, many of them under horrendous, abusive conditions.
Shawnee is a 4 or 5 year old little girl who witnessed the death of her parent’s employer. Her parents are missing; folks assume they’re guilty - they’re Indians. Cash, after discovering the dead farmer whom she worked for, also found this little girl, shivering under a bed, too scared to speak. She brings her to town, to her good friend, Wheaton, the sheriff.
He transfers Shawnee to the county social worker’s care, the same woman who was responsible for Cash as a child. At this point, the rehashing and comparing of two storylines is prominent.
Also in abundance throughout the book are descriptions of, well, almost everything other than people and how they feel. Cash has a gift of intuition that helps her investigate for Wheaton. She sometimes dreams, gets a shiver or an out of body vision. This aspect is not well developed in her character, she’s not all together comfortable with it which makes it feel less contrived. I wouldn’t say it’s at a magical realism level. I wanted to know more about how Cash and Wheaton felt during many scenes.
There were stretches of time I found the prose to be frustrating. Rendon writes with lots of short, simple sentences and is repetitive to the point of frustration. She has some kind of preoccupation with saying the model of car Cash drives: Ranchero. Good grief, it must be stated over 100 times! In addition, there are many, many non sentences. It’s possible these will be edited, as I’m reading an eARC, but I suspect they are a stylistic choice. It’s one I find that when used for effect, it can be successful but in this case, it makes for choppy passages.
It was interesting to learn some unique Midwest words and usage, (ope, the tamarak, 3.2 beer), after researching them myself. Perhaps earlier books gave definitions but this one didn’t. Still, I enjoy learning new things. That’s not the case with political and social issues in this story. There are some mentions, mostly by Cash and her experiences that are now being compared to Shawnee’s, but there are no long diatribes or significant amounts of historical information detailed.
Violence and sexual content are at a PG-13 level without detailed descriptions. Language is R rated with a full complement of expletives, including f-bombs.
Recommended for those who like period fiction, domestic mysteries, small town stories with a limited cast of characters and series fiction that offers complete stories in a single volume📚
Read and Reviewed from a NetGalley eARC, with thanks.
BROKEN FIELDS, by Marcie R. Rendon, is 4th in an ongoing series and easily read as a standalone. Rendon provides enough background for readers to understand what happened to lead character, Cash.
Cash is a complex, young indigenous woman who harbors an intense amount of anger, resentment and pain resulting from her life spent in the foster care system. The story takes place in the late 1970’s, (her having grown up in the 60’s-70’s) when Indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in “Christian” homes, many of them under horrendous, abusive conditions.
Shawnee is a 4 or 5 year old little girl who witnessed the death of her parent’s employer. Her parents are missing; folks assume they’re guilty - they’re Indians. Cash, after discovering the dead farmer whom she worked for, also found this little girl, shivering under a bed, too scared to speak. She brings her to town, to her good friend, Wheaton, the sheriff.
He transfers Shawnee to the county social worker’s care, the same woman who was responsible for Cash as a child. At this point, the rehashing and comparing of two storylines is prominent.
Also in abundance throughout the book are descriptions of, well, almost everything other than people and how they feel. Cash has a gift of intuition that helps her investigate for Wheaton. She sometimes dreams, gets a shiver or an out of body vision. This aspect is not well developed in her character, she’s not all together comfortable with it which makes it feel less contrived. I wouldn’t say it’s at a magical realism level. I wanted to know more about how Cash and Wheaton felt during many scenes.
There were stretches of time I found the prose to be frustrating. Rendon writes with lots of short, simple sentences and is repetitive to the point of frustration. She has some kind of preoccupation with saying the model of car Cash drives: Ranchero. Good grief, it must be stated over 100 times! In addition, there are many, many non sentences. It’s possible these will be edited, as I’m reading an eARC, but I suspect they are a stylistic choice. It’s one I find that when used for effect, it can be successful but in this case, it makes for choppy passages.
It was interesting to learn some unique Midwest words and usage, (ope, the tamarak, 3.2 beer), after researching them myself. Perhaps earlier books gave definitions but this one didn’t. Still, I enjoy learning new things. That’s not the case with political and social issues in this story. There are some mentions, mostly by Cash and her experiences that are now being compared to Shawnee’s, but there are no long diatribes or significant amounts of historical information detailed.
Violence and sexual content are at a PG-13 level without detailed descriptions. Language is R rated with a full complement of expletives, including f-bombs.
Recommended for those who like period fiction, domestic mysteries, small town stories with a limited cast of characters and series fiction that offers complete stories in a single volume📚
Read and Reviewed from a NetGalley eARC, with thanks.
June 14, 2025
I've really enjoyed this series even though it isn't one I would normally read! I love when a challenge or a book of the month gets me to read outside my comfort zone and I end up with a great read!
Maybe we will get move books with Cash Blackbear! She is not your run of the mill heroine, but she genuinely cares for people and finds herself helping even in the worst situations!
Maybe we will get move books with Cash Blackbear! She is not your run of the mill heroine, but she genuinely cares for people and finds herself helping even in the worst situations!
June 28, 2025
The audiobook is excellent cinematic drama!
the best told story so far in the Cash Blackbear mystery series with the resilient Ojibwa heroine, now in her 20s. In this volume Cash is able to be the supportive advocate to a very young girl who faces similar trauma like her own past, offering emotional reflection and strength. And I love Cash's visits with Jonsey, the best mentor!
A great read to compare to The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich especially for the small community relationship drama aspects.
I also noted similarities with the book A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter --- an immersive, haunting, and lyrical multi-generational saga of resilient Métis women, their stories and songs, as well as enchanting interactions of the land with a charismatic bison includes some heavy realism, shapeshifting magical-realism, and liminal interactions between the living & the dead.
More on the whole series:
This entrancing, lyrical & spare Indigenous-wise coming of age mystery series is set along the Red River in Minnesota and North Dakota during the era of the Vietnam War in the 1970s. With emphasis on injustices endured by Native American families and children through the foster care system, Ojibwa heroine Renee “Cash” Blackbear is irrepressible; she endures foster care then finds an advocate and independence as a truck driving farm worker and tournament champion pool player. Her advocate is Sheriff Wheaton and thanks to insight Cash gleans through dreams, she assists in solving crimes.
the best told story so far in the Cash Blackbear mystery series with the resilient Ojibwa heroine, now in her 20s. In this volume Cash is able to be the supportive advocate to a very young girl who faces similar trauma like her own past, offering emotional reflection and strength. And I love Cash's visits with Jonsey, the best mentor!
A great read to compare to The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich especially for the small community relationship drama aspects.
I also noted similarities with the book A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter --- an immersive, haunting, and lyrical multi-generational saga of resilient Métis women, their stories and songs, as well as enchanting interactions of the land with a charismatic bison includes some heavy realism, shapeshifting magical-realism, and liminal interactions between the living & the dead.
More on the whole series:
This entrancing, lyrical & spare Indigenous-wise coming of age mystery series is set along the Red River in Minnesota and North Dakota during the era of the Vietnam War in the 1970s. With emphasis on injustices endured by Native American families and children through the foster care system, Ojibwa heroine Renee “Cash” Blackbear is irrepressible; she endures foster care then finds an advocate and independence as a truck driving farm worker and tournament champion pool player. Her advocate is Sheriff Wheaton and thanks to insight Cash gleans through dreams, she assists in solving crimes.
March 25, 2025
Fans of Native American storyteller Marcie R Rendon’s wonderful Cash Blackbear mysteries have been pining since 2022 for a new novel starring the young Ojibwe farm worker, college student, and occasional sleuth. The wait was worth it: Broken Fields is a terrific fourth outing in Cash’s escapades in the Red River Valley during the 1970s.
Cash is doing Spring fieldwork for a Minnesota farmer when she discovers him dead on the kitchen floor of a rented farmhouse. A young Native girl, Shawnee, is hiding under her bed, terrified. Shaken by events in the previous book, Sinister Graves, Cash questions her intuition, while feeling long-held anger and resentments flare when Shawnee is put into foster care, then with the grieving widow, a ‘good Christian woman’. Triggering for Cash, given her experiences being near-slave labour for white families as an indigenous foster child. While Cash and Sheriff Wheaton search for Shawnee’s parents, another body turns up, and rumours swirl of ‘Peyton Place’ style scandals among their community.
Rendon, a poet and playwright, and member of the White Earth Anishinabe Nation, crafts another immersive mystery that vividly evokes time, place, and historic attitudes. Cash is a fantastic heroine; complex, fascinating, and authentic as she deals with PTSD and ongoing prejudices. Rendon’s light touch means despite the dark acts and traumas Broken Fields never reads as too bleak. A terrific novel in a terrific series.
This review was first written for publication in Good Reading magazine, in Australia
Cash is doing Spring fieldwork for a Minnesota farmer when she discovers him dead on the kitchen floor of a rented farmhouse. A young Native girl, Shawnee, is hiding under her bed, terrified. Shaken by events in the previous book, Sinister Graves, Cash questions her intuition, while feeling long-held anger and resentments flare when Shawnee is put into foster care, then with the grieving widow, a ‘good Christian woman’. Triggering for Cash, given her experiences being near-slave labour for white families as an indigenous foster child. While Cash and Sheriff Wheaton search for Shawnee’s parents, another body turns up, and rumours swirl of ‘Peyton Place’ style scandals among their community.
Rendon, a poet and playwright, and member of the White Earth Anishinabe Nation, crafts another immersive mystery that vividly evokes time, place, and historic attitudes. Cash is a fantastic heroine; complex, fascinating, and authentic as she deals with PTSD and ongoing prejudices. Rendon’s light touch means despite the dark acts and traumas Broken Fields never reads as too bleak. A terrific novel in a terrific series.
This review was first written for publication in Good Reading magazine, in Australia
March 7, 2025
"This time, this space, this solitude in nature. It was this land and this river that had fed her soul in the absence of her mother and the rest of her family."
March 31, 2025
Marcie Rendon’s, Cash Blackbear series is easily starting to become one of my favorite series. Cash is a Native American gal in the 1970’s living in the Red River/Fargo area of Minnesota. She is an orphan and does tough field work for farms but she also solves crimes on the side. She has a gift of seeing and feeling things in the world that most others can’t. This series also spotlights how horrible Native Americans were and still are treated in the world. If you are into mystery books please consider reading. She is a Minnesota Indie Author who is the most lovely lady you could ever meet.
March 7, 2025
Such a good series!
Cash Blackbear is mowing a field for a farmer when she notices a car running at a farmhouse. When it is still there hours later, she gets a feeling that something isn’t right. Inside the farmhouse, she finds a man dead and a little girl hiding under the bed, terrified and refusing to speak.
Working with Sheriff Wheaton, Cash is determined to keep Shawnee, the little girl safe, and proof that her mother didn’t kill the farmer or her husband, who is also found dead.
Cash is a great main character, strong, loyal, and faithful to the few friends she has. Definitely recommend this series.
Cash Blackbear is mowing a field for a farmer when she notices a car running at a farmhouse. When it is still there hours later, she gets a feeling that something isn’t right. Inside the farmhouse, she finds a man dead and a little girl hiding under the bed, terrified and refusing to speak.
Working with Sheriff Wheaton, Cash is determined to keep Shawnee, the little girl safe, and proof that her mother didn’t kill the farmer or her husband, who is also found dead.
Cash is a great main character, strong, loyal, and faithful to the few friends she has. Definitely recommend this series.
March 6, 2025
I love this series. I love Cash.
January 6, 2025
Every book in this series is amazing, but I think this might be the best one yet. Cash Blackbear is a flawed protagonist, yet she’s so easy to root for. I love the complexity of her as a character. The mystery in this book is fairly straightforward, though the addition of a child named Shawnee, who may have been a witness to the crime, gave an added sense of urgency to the story, while at the same time forcing Cash to confront her own traumatic past. The author addresses several difficult topics: the foster care system, the overall treatment of Native Americans in the U.S., misogyny and racism (particularly in rural communities), individual traumas. It would be easy for the book to become depressingly bleak, but it never tips too far in that direction. Cash’s relationship with Wheaton, who is a sort of father figure for her, is, in turns, entertaining and emotionally satisfying. I loved seeing some of Cash’s old friends pop up in this book, and you never know when she’ll make an unexpected new friend or ally, too. Highly recommend this one!
March 10, 2025
I enjoy the Cash Blackbear mysteries. Most of the attraction is because I grew up in Fargo during the time period of the story and find that entertaining. Broken Fields Story line is good but Rendon could have done a lot more with it. Redundancy throughout the story, that could have been left out. I will keep reading this series because I enjoy them, but Rendon is a much better writer and could move this series into a much better murder mystery series.
May 20, 2025
I usually travel with more than one book. This short 4 day vacation, I really didn’t think I was going to have much time to ready but I should know better. 😂😁. I don’t like to read on e-books. I’m on my devices too much and reading an actual book is very satisfying for me.
Anyway, there was a very small Indy bookstore right next to where I was having breakfast. I popped in to see what they had. The selection was ok, a few books that were on my list but I wanted a book I could finish on my flights home- thus this is the book I choose.
“Broken Fields” is book 4 in a series but from my convo ChatGPT, it can be read as a stand alone! Phew.
Not going to take the time to write a review as this could easily have been a DNF. As I mentioned, I needed something to do on the flights- I finished it.
2/5⭐️
Anyway, there was a very small Indy bookstore right next to where I was having breakfast. I popped in to see what they had. The selection was ok, a few books that were on my list but I wanted a book I could finish on my flights home- thus this is the book I choose.
“Broken Fields” is book 4 in a series but from my convo ChatGPT, it can be read as a stand alone! Phew.
Not going to take the time to write a review as this could easily have been a DNF. As I mentioned, I needed something to do on the flights- I finished it.
2/5⭐️
June 16, 2025
I listened to this fourth book in Marcie Rendon’s Cash Blackbear series in just a few days. Cash is working a field in the Red River Valley when she notices something happening in the farmyard nearby. She goes to check things out and finds the farmer who hired her dead in the kitchen and a little girl hiding under a bed upstairs, her parents nowhere in sight. Cash calls in Sheriff Wheaton and assists him in finding the little girl’s parents and solving the murder. Cash has an added motivation for helping the girl and trying to keep her out of the foster care system. Cash has flashbacks to her own terrible experiences in the system as a child. I grew up in the Red River Valley of the North in MN, and I can picture all the places that Rendon describes. I enjoy reading about my home area from another perspective, and Rendon creates compelling stories with well drawn characters. Isabella Star LaBlanc is the perfect choice as narrator for these stories.
April 11, 2025
I love this series. I hope it'll only end when Cash is completely happy, she deserves the best. Some scenes had me teary eyed. I really liked the descriptions of the land. Even though the writing isn't all that flowery, I always had a very clear picture of the setting in my mind. My only complaint is that the murder mysteries are never that intriguing and very predictable.
May 26, 2025
I do not hand out 5’s often.. I just really liked the book. It is about an American Indian woman who helps the local sheriff investigate .She is not part of his staff but has helped solve other unsolved crimes.
She is trying to get a job with the sheriffs dept or at least a paying internship. In the mean time she works the local farms doing whatever needs to be done to make money. Along the way she tries to solve a double murder. Lots of zigs and zags along the way. It was one of those books I had trouble putting down .
She is trying to get a job with the sheriffs dept or at least a paying internship. In the mean time she works the local farms doing whatever needs to be done to make money. Along the way she tries to solve a double murder. Lots of zigs and zags along the way. It was one of those books I had trouble putting down .
August 21, 2025
I always enjoy reading about Cash, but this felt like a “lite” version. Not compelling :(
May 5, 2025
I've read all the Cash Blackbear books, and this is the best one yet. Cash is a great character, and I hope this series keeps going for a long time yet!
July 7, 2025
The final book in the Cash Blackbear series, I love the Sage Jonesy! This book continues the thread of foster children and their vulnerability. Cash steps in . . . Some lovely writing about the Red River Valley of the North. Page 226 highlights Rendon’s gift. “This time, this space, this solitude in nature. It was the land and this river fed her soul in the absence of her mother and the rest of her family. This river. These trees. These fields of black dirt, plowed broken fields that lie flat 30-40 miles either side of the River. This is what fed her soul. Kept her spirits alive.
March 16, 2025
Cash Blackbear is one of my favorite characters!! I loved this one. I look forward to returning to 1970’s with her for her next mystery! Please keep writing them, Marcie!!!
March 31, 2025
Best written book in the series
I've liked all four books in the series but this one was had the best writing. Less fluff and more plot development. Cash's persona continues to flesh out and the focus on the native experience was more developed and nuanced.
I've liked all four books in the series but this one was had the best writing. Less fluff and more plot development. Cash's persona continues to flesh out and the focus on the native experience was more developed and nuanced.
February 27, 2025
Cash Blackbear is a young Ojibwe woman I've come to care about deeply in this series (of now) four books. Broken Fields is a tapestry tightly woven with details of Native American life in northern Minnesota, abusive farm labor practices, and women's liberation.
Rendon's depiction of the landscape and farming aspects takes me right back to my childhood in a small farm town in central Illinois. Sights, sounds, smells-- Rendon's descriptions are incredibly vivid.
Equally vivid are her characters. There's Sheriff Wheaton, the great rescuer, who keeps a close eye on Cash and is doing his best to further her education and work experience. No one wants to see Cash succeed more than he does. But no character shines more brightly than Cash, battle-scarred survivor of the harsh foster system. Her fierce protectiveness of little Shawnee shows how deeply she cares-- and sometimes she cares so deeply that her anger takes control of her actions. After what happened in the previous book (Sinister Graves), Cash doesn't trust her intuition the way she used to. She sleeps with the lights on. She drinks too much. It's been a long time since I've been so invested in a character. I want this young woman to succeed. I want her to thrive.
And I want this series to continue for a good long time. If you like good mysteries with a strong main character, a superb sense of place, and a writing style that draws you right into the heart of each book, you have to make the acquaintance of Cash Blackbear. Start with the first book, Murder on the Red River. You can thank me later.
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)
Rendon's depiction of the landscape and farming aspects takes me right back to my childhood in a small farm town in central Illinois. Sights, sounds, smells-- Rendon's descriptions are incredibly vivid.
Equally vivid are her characters. There's Sheriff Wheaton, the great rescuer, who keeps a close eye on Cash and is doing his best to further her education and work experience. No one wants to see Cash succeed more than he does. But no character shines more brightly than Cash, battle-scarred survivor of the harsh foster system. Her fierce protectiveness of little Shawnee shows how deeply she cares-- and sometimes she cares so deeply that her anger takes control of her actions. After what happened in the previous book (Sinister Graves), Cash doesn't trust her intuition the way she used to. She sleeps with the lights on. She drinks too much. It's been a long time since I've been so invested in a character. I want this young woman to succeed. I want her to thrive.
And I want this series to continue for a good long time. If you like good mysteries with a strong main character, a superb sense of place, and a writing style that draws you right into the heart of each book, you have to make the acquaintance of Cash Blackbear. Start with the first book, Murder on the Red River. You can thank me later.
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)
May 4, 2025
I love the Cash Blackbear series and was excited that the 4th book was being released while I was on parental leave...and promptly zipped through it.
I enjoyed Broken Fields, but for me, the story didn't live up to the first two books (I didn't love the third). I enjoyed the evolution of Cash's character and the mystery in this book, but I felt that the events of the previous novels were re-visited and explained too many times in this one. It felt like filler content at several points - tedious, annoying, and unnecessary for plot development. I found myself saying "just get on with it already!".
All that said, I'm fully invested and would greatly look forward to another book in the series if another were to be written.
I enjoyed Broken Fields, but for me, the story didn't live up to the first two books (I didn't love the third). I enjoyed the evolution of Cash's character and the mystery in this book, but I felt that the events of the previous novels were re-visited and explained too many times in this one. It felt like filler content at several points - tedious, annoying, and unnecessary for plot development. I found myself saying "just get on with it already!".
All that said, I'm fully invested and would greatly look forward to another book in the series if another were to be written.
June 3, 2025
"Broken Fields," by Minnesota author Marcie R. Rendon, was just the book I needed to read right now - local, fast-paced, entertaining. I've read all of Rendon's books and have enjoyed them all immensely.
"Broken Fields," book #4 in the "Cash Blackbear" series, begins as the protagonist, Cash (Renee) Blackbear, is plowing under a field near the Red River in preparation for spring planting. Across the field, she spots a farmstead with a car running in the driveway. As she plows, she sees no one, and the car continues to run. Eventually, she decides to investigate. In the farmhouse she finds a body, and the investigation is on...
TAKEAWAYS:
1. Set in the 1970's in the Red River Valley of Minnesota, I find much to relate to here. I was Cash's age in these years. My parents and ancestors all farmed this area. I am very familiar with the Fargo-Moorhead, Minnesota, area. Nancy Pearl, the librarian's librarian, theorizes that readers enter a book through one of four doors, one of these doors being the SETTING door. This door is what draws me to these novels. Rendon nails it in terms of bringing the time and place to life for the reader. Not only are her descriptions accurate, but through beautiful wording, they bring all of the sights, sounds, smells, feelings of this time and place to life for the reader. Just read the opening page, and you are there.
- p. 224 - "The rest of the day passed in a summer haze. Humid Valley heat. Feathery white clouds across a clear blue sky. Barnyard animal noises. The smell of fresh dirt form a nearby plowed field carried on a barely discernable breeze. Small whit moths flitted over the short white clover in the green grass. Bologna sandwiches and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies carried out to the searchers by apron-wearing housewives."
-p. 226 - "This time, this space, this solitude in nature. It was this land and this river that had fed her soul in the absence of her mother and the rest of her family. This river. These trees. These fields of black dirt, plowed broken fields, that lie flat thirty to forty miles either side of the river. This is what fed her soul. Kept her spirit alive."
- p. 236 - On either side of the road, fields were green with new growth: sugar beets, potatoes, wheat, corn, oats and new fields where farmers had planted soybeans, a crop new to the area. The rich Red River dirt was doing what it had since the immigrants from the old world had arrived. It was growing food for the world."
2. CHARACTER is another door through which a reader can enter a story. One can not help but be drawn to the central characters in this series. "Broken Fields," in particular, focuses on the trauma that the young protagonist has endured. Themes of PTSD and generational trauma for American Indians are particularly significant and moving in this entry in the series. Cash, who lost her family at a young age and was placed into the foster care system, endured neglect and abuse while growing up. There are ramifications to this day. The local sheriff, Wheaton, has taken Cash under his wing. He encouraged her to attend college and is working on getting Cash an internship to work for him, and to (finally) get compensation for doing it. Wheaton, too, is a good man. Though both have their flaws, both are compelling characters whom the reader can empathize with. The antagonists here (some miscellaneous white individuals, Jean Borgerud, Miss Dackson, etc.) could be painted a bit more clearly. I never got a good picture in my head of Jean, for example.
3. In terms of PLOT, this one is a page turner. I finished the book quickly. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending. I am not sure that Cash would actually have gotten away with some of the things that she does to solve the crime and make things right for Shawnee and Arlis (though it sure would be cool if it really would work out the way that it did). And the fact that Jean gives up so easily, after everything she had done, doesn't seem realistic either.
4. THEMES of prejudice and racism towards American Indians, the foster care system, PTSD, generational trauma, alcohol abuse, education, relationships, the hypocrisy of many who called themselves "Christians," child abuse, gender roles, motherhood, how we cope with trauma, loss, war (the Vietnam War at the time), the American Indian Movement, insanity, how we protect ourselves, white privilege, genderism, food and eating/having "enough," boarding schools, unequal treatment in the court system, etc. - all are realistically explored in "Broken Fields."
- p. 89 - "Years ago, in one foster home or another, she had learned to leave her body. Fly over treetops, across wheat fields. She loved the feeling of freedom that came with soaring through the air. Gliding over the land. The travels allowed her to escape the everyday struggle of one more sarcastic putdown, one more beating. One more violation of her body."
- p. 129 - "'...be careful what you think. Thoughts are real, they travel out into the world...You never know when someone standing right next to you can hear what you're thinking.'" (Jonesy)
- p. 230 - "'There are some things we can never run from. We might try to, but the spirits move faster. We can't outrun them. We each have a purpose here...A purpose that was determined before we ever arrived here. We can run from that purpose. But it will always find us. And every time we run, there will be a hardship to face. Or we can learn from what life hands us, because that purpose will always find us before we leave this earth.'" (Jonesy)
5. I love the mystical elements in Rendon's writing, associated with her culture. Cash has a special gift, a sense, that allows her to feel and see things that help her to solve these crimes. She pays attention to the world in a way that most of us do not. And the character of Jonesy is so wise, so good, so endearing - a spiritual being for sure. Cash's visits to the White Earth Reservation to see Jonesy are wondrous. She is another of Cash's caretakers.
- p. 30 - "She stared out the bedroom window, where a sparrow hopped on a tree branch. Her hand tingled as she continued to run it smoothly over the dress. The sparrow became a slight woman, walking along a paved road. The woman looked back over her shoulder. Her brow furrowed. Concern clouded her eyes...Cash felt more than heard her say, 'I'll be back for her.' And then, once again, a small brown sparrow hopped along the tree branch." (Cash)
An excellent, entertaining, thought-provoking read! Highly recommend!
"Broken Fields," book #4 in the "Cash Blackbear" series, begins as the protagonist, Cash (Renee) Blackbear, is plowing under a field near the Red River in preparation for spring planting. Across the field, she spots a farmstead with a car running in the driveway. As she plows, she sees no one, and the car continues to run. Eventually, she decides to investigate. In the farmhouse she finds a body, and the investigation is on...
TAKEAWAYS:
1. Set in the 1970's in the Red River Valley of Minnesota, I find much to relate to here. I was Cash's age in these years. My parents and ancestors all farmed this area. I am very familiar with the Fargo-Moorhead, Minnesota, area. Nancy Pearl, the librarian's librarian, theorizes that readers enter a book through one of four doors, one of these doors being the SETTING door. This door is what draws me to these novels. Rendon nails it in terms of bringing the time and place to life for the reader. Not only are her descriptions accurate, but through beautiful wording, they bring all of the sights, sounds, smells, feelings of this time and place to life for the reader. Just read the opening page, and you are there.
- p. 224 - "The rest of the day passed in a summer haze. Humid Valley heat. Feathery white clouds across a clear blue sky. Barnyard animal noises. The smell of fresh dirt form a nearby plowed field carried on a barely discernable breeze. Small whit moths flitted over the short white clover in the green grass. Bologna sandwiches and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies carried out to the searchers by apron-wearing housewives."
-p. 226 - "This time, this space, this solitude in nature. It was this land and this river that had fed her soul in the absence of her mother and the rest of her family. This river. These trees. These fields of black dirt, plowed broken fields, that lie flat thirty to forty miles either side of the river. This is what fed her soul. Kept her spirit alive."
- p. 236 - On either side of the road, fields were green with new growth: sugar beets, potatoes, wheat, corn, oats and new fields where farmers had planted soybeans, a crop new to the area. The rich Red River dirt was doing what it had since the immigrants from the old world had arrived. It was growing food for the world."
2. CHARACTER is another door through which a reader can enter a story. One can not help but be drawn to the central characters in this series. "Broken Fields," in particular, focuses on the trauma that the young protagonist has endured. Themes of PTSD and generational trauma for American Indians are particularly significant and moving in this entry in the series. Cash, who lost her family at a young age and was placed into the foster care system, endured neglect and abuse while growing up. There are ramifications to this day. The local sheriff, Wheaton, has taken Cash under his wing. He encouraged her to attend college and is working on getting Cash an internship to work for him, and to (finally) get compensation for doing it. Wheaton, too, is a good man. Though both have their flaws, both are compelling characters whom the reader can empathize with. The antagonists here (some miscellaneous white individuals, Jean Borgerud, Miss Dackson, etc.) could be painted a bit more clearly. I never got a good picture in my head of Jean, for example.
3. In terms of PLOT, this one is a page turner. I finished the book quickly. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending. I am not sure that Cash would actually have gotten away with some of the things that she does to solve the crime and make things right for Shawnee and Arlis (though it sure would be cool if it really would work out the way that it did). And the fact that Jean gives up so easily, after everything she had done, doesn't seem realistic either.
4. THEMES of prejudice and racism towards American Indians, the foster care system, PTSD, generational trauma, alcohol abuse, education, relationships, the hypocrisy of many who called themselves "Christians," child abuse, gender roles, motherhood, how we cope with trauma, loss, war (the Vietnam War at the time), the American Indian Movement, insanity, how we protect ourselves, white privilege, genderism, food and eating/having "enough," boarding schools, unequal treatment in the court system, etc. - all are realistically explored in "Broken Fields."
- p. 89 - "Years ago, in one foster home or another, she had learned to leave her body. Fly over treetops, across wheat fields. She loved the feeling of freedom that came with soaring through the air. Gliding over the land. The travels allowed her to escape the everyday struggle of one more sarcastic putdown, one more beating. One more violation of her body."
- p. 129 - "'...be careful what you think. Thoughts are real, they travel out into the world...You never know when someone standing right next to you can hear what you're thinking.'" (Jonesy)
- p. 230 - "'There are some things we can never run from. We might try to, but the spirits move faster. We can't outrun them. We each have a purpose here...A purpose that was determined before we ever arrived here. We can run from that purpose. But it will always find us. And every time we run, there will be a hardship to face. Or we can learn from what life hands us, because that purpose will always find us before we leave this earth.'" (Jonesy)
5. I love the mystical elements in Rendon's writing, associated with her culture. Cash has a special gift, a sense, that allows her to feel and see things that help her to solve these crimes. She pays attention to the world in a way that most of us do not. And the character of Jonesy is so wise, so good, so endearing - a spiritual being for sure. Cash's visits to the White Earth Reservation to see Jonesy are wondrous. She is another of Cash's caretakers.
- p. 30 - "She stared out the bedroom window, where a sparrow hopped on a tree branch. Her hand tingled as she continued to run it smoothly over the dress. The sparrow became a slight woman, walking along a paved road. The woman looked back over her shoulder. Her brow furrowed. Concern clouded her eyes...Cash felt more than heard her say, 'I'll be back for her.' And then, once again, a small brown sparrow hopped along the tree branch." (Cash)
An excellent, entertaining, thought-provoking read! Highly recommend!
April 25, 2025
Cash Blackbear's story is definitely compelling, but I hope she gets some professional help soon. She is on the verge of full-blown alcoholism, which is probably understandable given her awful experiences in foster care and the flashbacks that plague her. But her impulsive actions put herself and others in danger, and she lurches from one life-threatening situation to the next. Yes, she is trying to save a small Native girl from going into foster care and repeating the experiences she endured, but Cash operates well outside the law. It seems impossible that the sheriff allows her to help him on cases and arranges for her to get a work-study position for her upcoming academic term. (Next book?). Cash constantly experiences discrimination and abuse because she is Indian so she trusts no one. But can't Rendon include any white woman who isn't criminal, clueless, heartless, or mentally ill? Please. Let Cash find some happy moments outside of pool playing and binge drinking. I have been drawn into all the books in the series, but I keep hoping something good will happen for her.
April 5, 2025
I love the Cash series. She’s so tough, smart, insightful, and underneath it all, very sensitive. I have lived in Fargo in the Red River Valley since 1986. I know all the towns and roads described in the books. Imagining it in the early 70’s is fun.
May 12, 2025
This is the fourth in the Cash Blackbear series about 1970s life in the vast rural farming country around the border between North Dakota and Minnesota. This book would work perfectly as an introduction to the series. Cash is far more reflective in this book than previous offerings, as befits her growing experience and maturation. Her ruminations provide all of the background a new reader to the series would need to make sense of the plot and her character.
Cash is a young Ojibwe woman in BROKEN FIELDS, and as she is on semester break from her college career, she is able to spend the course of the book helping her friend and mentor, Sheriff Wheaton, investigate a farmhouse murder and a small town bank robbery. In fact, she discovers the murder victim when she is plowing a field for a local farmer (work she has done since she was quite young). At the scene, she also discovered a young, traumatized indigenous girl who must have seen the murder take place and whose parents are nowhere to be found. The girl, named Shawnee, is passed into the foster system, as Cash was in her childhood. While Cash assists Wheaton in the investigation of the murder, he also asks her to keep track of and support Shawnee as best as she can.
Cash had developed an ability to separate her mind from her physical experiences when she was mistreated in foster care, and she calls upon that skill to guide her and Wheaton’s investigations. One of the recurring themes in the series is the shortcomings of the foster system, particularly for young indigenous children, and Shawnee’s experience is no exception. Rendon shines a light on this injustice through Cash and Shawnee’s interactions, and Cash’s deep thinking on the topic helps build her character. BROKEN FIELDS brings Cash from the impetuous teenager of the previous books to a much more fully developed adult, and that character development is a strength of the book. Other characters are not as fully developed, as they play more of a plot-based function or foils for Cash’s development.
Throughout the series, Rendon, who is Ojibwe herself, has dealt with issues related to the entitlement of white farmers in the region during the latter half of the 20th century and the consequences of that entitlement for indigenous people. In addition, in the third book in the series (SINISTER GRAVES) as well as in BROKEN FIELDS, she deals with the impact of isolation and male hegemony on women on the farms. There is more depth to her writing than many mysteries/thrillers can claim.
Rendon does not skimp on can’t-put-the-book-down plot moments in favor of characterization and thematic advancement, however. There are several of these in the book, and they are so well done that I can’t comment on specifics of the writing during those sections since I was so deeply engaged in the images that were playing out in my mind. The resolution makes sense and comes together quickly as a result of the action, rather than through one character telling another what happened.
I have enjoyed all of the books Rendon has written, but this one the most. I appreciate that Rendon has Cash showing a bit more restraint so that there is less beer drinking and cigarette smoking in the narrative. BROKEN FIELDS is an excellent continuation of the series and, as I’ve said above, is also a good entry-point for a new reader to jump right in.
Cash is a young Ojibwe woman in BROKEN FIELDS, and as she is on semester break from her college career, she is able to spend the course of the book helping her friend and mentor, Sheriff Wheaton, investigate a farmhouse murder and a small town bank robbery. In fact, she discovers the murder victim when she is plowing a field for a local farmer (work she has done since she was quite young). At the scene, she also discovered a young, traumatized indigenous girl who must have seen the murder take place and whose parents are nowhere to be found. The girl, named Shawnee, is passed into the foster system, as Cash was in her childhood. While Cash assists Wheaton in the investigation of the murder, he also asks her to keep track of and support Shawnee as best as she can.
Cash had developed an ability to separate her mind from her physical experiences when she was mistreated in foster care, and she calls upon that skill to guide her and Wheaton’s investigations. One of the recurring themes in the series is the shortcomings of the foster system, particularly for young indigenous children, and Shawnee’s experience is no exception. Rendon shines a light on this injustice through Cash and Shawnee’s interactions, and Cash’s deep thinking on the topic helps build her character. BROKEN FIELDS brings Cash from the impetuous teenager of the previous books to a much more fully developed adult, and that character development is a strength of the book. Other characters are not as fully developed, as they play more of a plot-based function or foils for Cash’s development.
Throughout the series, Rendon, who is Ojibwe herself, has dealt with issues related to the entitlement of white farmers in the region during the latter half of the 20th century and the consequences of that entitlement for indigenous people. In addition, in the third book in the series (SINISTER GRAVES) as well as in BROKEN FIELDS, she deals with the impact of isolation and male hegemony on women on the farms. There is more depth to her writing than many mysteries/thrillers can claim.
Rendon does not skimp on can’t-put-the-book-down plot moments in favor of characterization and thematic advancement, however. There are several of these in the book, and they are so well done that I can’t comment on specifics of the writing during those sections since I was so deeply engaged in the images that were playing out in my mind. The resolution makes sense and comes together quickly as a result of the action, rather than through one character telling another what happened.
I have enjoyed all of the books Rendon has written, but this one the most. I appreciate that Rendon has Cash showing a bit more restraint so that there is less beer drinking and cigarette smoking in the narrative. BROKEN FIELDS is an excellent continuation of the series and, as I’ve said above, is also a good entry-point for a new reader to jump right in.
May 7, 2025
A CASH BLACKBEAR crime mystery. #4 in series, which I read. Author and Cash are authentic Natives, which makes the novels authentic. I would edit out some details that can be assumed in order to keep the action going. Seems to be set in the 1970’s - Viet Nam era. Cash leads a harsh life that she’s learned to accept and how to handle the best she can.
CASH has an apartment in Fargo, North Dakota in the Red River Valley, like the song; it marks the border between Oklahoma and Texas. Cash is 5’2 and a strong young woman with her “sixth sense” special gift. She smokes too much; occasionally drinks too much, is a pool shark for recreation and easy cash. She has one female friend named BUNK, but this is nearly the extent of her socializing. She is soft-spoken and justifiably very slow to trust others. However, without reservations, she can and does trust Wheaton.
WHEATON, the county sheriff, has been looking out for Cash since she was a child left by the roadside and her drunken mother was dead in the ditch from an auto accident. She has a unique gift for seeing details and sensing what no one else does. She likes to work the fields more than police work, but when Wheaton calls, she answers — and this goes both ways. Only JONESY, also Native, is aware of Cash’s abilities and she is fully trustworthy.
Cash finds a man shot dead downstairs in the house where she was plowing fields and a terrified little girl hiding in shock beneath an upstairs bed; child does not speak except to say her name is Shawnee. When Wheaton arrives, he and Cash take the girl for checkup by Dr. Larson at his clinic. (Not to creepy, racist Dr. Felix.) Shawnee is fine except for shock and fear, but refuses to speak. The soulless county social worker takes Shawnee for the night while Sheriff Wheaton tries to find one of her parents or else Shawnee will go into questionable foster care - like Cash did. This will be Cash’s motivation.
Cash is horrified the next morning to find Shawnee in the care of the dead man’s wife who is a hateful shrew. Then the two go out to the dead man’s farm and find Shawnee’s dad - dead.
Unexpectedly, Sheriff Wheaton disappears. Minneapolis FBI is called. While he is gone, the bank is robbed. Problems keep the story moving along these lines, a rather slow burn until the final pages when you won’t want to put it down. Things go from bad to worse. What will happen with little Shawnee?
You’ll probably gasp in disbelief when you read the final chapter.
CASH has an apartment in Fargo, North Dakota in the Red River Valley, like the song; it marks the border between Oklahoma and Texas. Cash is 5’2 and a strong young woman with her “sixth sense” special gift. She smokes too much; occasionally drinks too much, is a pool shark for recreation and easy cash. She has one female friend named BUNK, but this is nearly the extent of her socializing. She is soft-spoken and justifiably very slow to trust others. However, without reservations, she can and does trust Wheaton.
WHEATON, the county sheriff, has been looking out for Cash since she was a child left by the roadside and her drunken mother was dead in the ditch from an auto accident. She has a unique gift for seeing details and sensing what no one else does. She likes to work the fields more than police work, but when Wheaton calls, she answers — and this goes both ways. Only JONESY, also Native, is aware of Cash’s abilities and she is fully trustworthy.
Cash finds a man shot dead downstairs in the house where she was plowing fields and a terrified little girl hiding in shock beneath an upstairs bed; child does not speak except to say her name is Shawnee. When Wheaton arrives, he and Cash take the girl for checkup by Dr. Larson at his clinic. (Not to creepy, racist Dr. Felix.) Shawnee is fine except for shock and fear, but refuses to speak. The soulless county social worker takes Shawnee for the night while Sheriff Wheaton tries to find one of her parents or else Shawnee will go into questionable foster care - like Cash did. This will be Cash’s motivation.
Cash is horrified the next morning to find Shawnee in the care of the dead man’s wife who is a hateful shrew. Then the two go out to the dead man’s farm and find Shawnee’s dad - dead.
Unexpectedly, Sheriff Wheaton disappears. Minneapolis FBI is called. While he is gone, the bank is robbed. Problems keep the story moving along these lines, a rather slow burn until the final pages when you won’t want to put it down. Things go from bad to worse. What will happen with little Shawnee?
You’ll probably gasp in disbelief when you read the final chapter.
June 1, 2025
Cash Blackbear is fast becoming one of my favorite characters.
Moving on, barely, from killing a mad pastor who had been kidnapping Indian children for his even madder wife, Cash has finished her first year of college, and is trying to fill her summer with field work for area farmers. One morning while discing a field at the Bogerud place, Cash notices a car that has been parked outside the old farmstead all morning... with its engine running. Reluctantly, she stops work and investigates. The bloody body she finds in the kitchen is Mr. Bogerud. There is no sign of the tenants, an Indian couple named Arlis and Nils. But upstairs hiding under a bed is their five-year-old daughter, Shawnee.
With Sheriff Wheaton taking charge, Shawnee inevitably ends up in the custody of social worker Mrs. Dackson, Cash's own nemesis from a traumatic childhood in foster care. Driven by her own demons, Cash persists in trying to get the silent child to talk. When Shawnee is placed in the care of the widowed Jean Bogerud, Cash sees red. Then, Cash finds another body: Nils, stuffed under a corn crib in the farm yard.
Cash's sixth sense has been off since she killed the pastor, not helped by trying to drown her nightmares in beer. But she knows in her gut that Jean is bad news; despite her church-going, white farm lady persona, Jean has eyes filled with rage, and Cash fears for Shawnee. When she gets the chance, Cash kidnaps Shawnee until she can find Arlis, with the memories of her own lost family percolating in her emotions. But Arlis is suspected of the murders. Now Cash is hiding what she has done from Wheaton, and wondering what she will do when she finds Arlis.
Cash is becoming a grown woman, no longer a silent, mostly conforming teenager. She has begun to rebel against the system and its often racist participants, and defiantly bends the law to breaking point to fight back on Shawnee's behalf. Meanwhile, Wheaton disappears while pursuing a trio of bank robbers. Now Cash has two people she needs to find, and fast.
I'll be interested to see how Cash moves forward from this outing. Wheaton is pushing her towards law enforcement, but I wonder if Cash will find her own direction, and what that will be. I really like this "rural noir" series.
Moving on, barely, from killing a mad pastor who had been kidnapping Indian children for his even madder wife, Cash has finished her first year of college, and is trying to fill her summer with field work for area farmers. One morning while discing a field at the Bogerud place, Cash notices a car that has been parked outside the old farmstead all morning... with its engine running. Reluctantly, she stops work and investigates. The bloody body she finds in the kitchen is Mr. Bogerud. There is no sign of the tenants, an Indian couple named Arlis and Nils. But upstairs hiding under a bed is their five-year-old daughter, Shawnee.
With Sheriff Wheaton taking charge, Shawnee inevitably ends up in the custody of social worker Mrs. Dackson, Cash's own nemesis from a traumatic childhood in foster care. Driven by her own demons, Cash persists in trying to get the silent child to talk. When Shawnee is placed in the care of the widowed Jean Bogerud, Cash sees red. Then, Cash finds another body: Nils, stuffed under a corn crib in the farm yard.
Cash's sixth sense has been off since she killed the pastor, not helped by trying to drown her nightmares in beer. But she knows in her gut that Jean is bad news; despite her church-going, white farm lady persona, Jean has eyes filled with rage, and Cash fears for Shawnee. When she gets the chance, Cash kidnaps Shawnee until she can find Arlis, with the memories of her own lost family percolating in her emotions. But Arlis is suspected of the murders. Now Cash is hiding what she has done from Wheaton, and wondering what she will do when she finds Arlis.
Cash is becoming a grown woman, no longer a silent, mostly conforming teenager. She has begun to rebel against the system and its often racist participants, and defiantly bends the law to breaking point to fight back on Shawnee's behalf. Meanwhile, Wheaton disappears while pursuing a trio of bank robbers. Now Cash has two people she needs to find, and fast.
I'll be interested to see how Cash moves forward from this outing. Wheaton is pushing her towards law enforcement, but I wonder if Cash will find her own direction, and what that will be. I really like this "rural noir" series.
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