The Fire Carrier: A Chief Mitchell Bushyhead Mystery

Hager, who writes the Molly Bearpaw mysteries (Nightwalker), returns to her series starring Mitch Bushyhead, Chief of Police of Buckskin, in Oklahoma's Cherokee country, with this intriguing, complex tale that mixes Cherokee life and lore with small-town eccentrics. Henderson Sixkiller has escaped from jail to rescue his sister, Jessie Hatch, from her violent husband, Tyler. While living by his wits in open country, he is spooked by sightings of a moving light that suggests the evil spirit Fire Carrier. After Dr. Rhea Vann, who runs the Cherokee Nation clinic in Buckskin, persuades a badly bruised Jessie to leave her husband, who operates the local Job Corps Center, Tyler shows up enraged, and Rhea drives him off with blows to the head. The following morning, Tyler is found dead in the woods. While Mitch investigates that death, which most ascribe to Henderson, he's also pursuing complaints of someone stealing saddles and gear, and he's occupied with trying to maintain communication with his teenage daughter, Emily. Then, when another Buckskin resident refuses to go home because he's convinced he's seen the Fire Carrier, Mitch takes a few tentative steps into recovering his place in Cherokee society. The solution to the crime is satisfying and tragically modern, and Mitch Bushyhead is an endearing, steady companion. (May)