Poisoned Pen, Jan 2003, 24.95, 328 pp.
ISBN 1590058094X
The township of St. Adele in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a great place to go hunting. The small town even has a Hunt Dance which everyone attends including Constable John McIntire in his official capacity. He doesn't expect any trouble until a fight breaks out between the Chippewa Indian Marvin Wall and visiting rich teen Bambi Morlen whose folks are living in the members only Shawanok fishing club.
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The next day Bambi's body is found in the attic of the building where the dance was held. His head was partially scalped; somebody drilled a hole in his head and tied his feet with cord. The constable and the sheriff both believe somebody wanted to cast suspicion on Marvin or his protective older brother Adam. To make the investigation more complicated, the victim's father is never around and his mother doesn't want to talk to the authorities. The case is bothering John so much that he is spending time that he doesn't have to looking for clues that will lead him to the killer.
HUNTER'S DANCE is an interesting historical mystery set in the mid 1950's during the tail end of the Korean “police action”. The protagonist is an interesting character who didn't want the job as town constable but was tricked into accepting it. He can't help the fact that when a murder happens, he immerses into the case with the sly prodding of the wily sheriff. Kathleen Hills is a talented author who writes a colorful tale with a sense of time and place.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner