The American Café

Insights into present-day Cherokee life and race relations lift Hoklotubbe's folksy second Sadie Walela mystery (after 2003's Deception on All Accounts). Eager to make a fresh start in her native Cherokee country, 36-year-old Sadie buys a restaurant in Liberty, Okla., and renames it the American Café after the cafe that her late great-aunt, whom she resembles, owned during WWII. One day while Sadie is working on the menu, an old woman storms in and threatens Sadie with a sawed-off shotgun, angry that the cafe is about to reopen. Soon after, Sadie learns that the cafe's charming previous owner, Goldie Ray, has been shot to death, apparently by the same lunatic woman. Sadie helps local police officer Lance Smith investigate, but the deeper she delves, the more confused the hunt becomes. A wacky cast of characters complements a plot line that, while familiar, offers its share of twists. (Apr.)