Reading Group Guide
INTRODUCTION
Eagle Catcher
The first in a series of mystery Novels set among the Arapahos on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation.
When the Arapaho tribal chairman is found murdered in his tepee at the
Ethete powwow, the evidence points to the chairman's nephew, Anthony Castle. But
Father John O'Malley, pastor of St. Francis Mission, and Vicky
Holden, the Arapaho lawyer, do not believe the young man capable of murder.
Together they set out to find the real murderer and clear Anthony's name.
The trail that Father John and Vicky follow winds across the high plains of the Wind
River Reservation into Arapaho homes and community centers and into the fraud-infested
world of Indian oil and land deals. Eventually it leads to the past—the Old Time—when the
Arapahos were forced from their homes on the Great Plains and sent to the reservation.
There in the Old Time, Father John and Vicky discover a crime so heinous that
someone was willing to commit murder more than a hundred years later to keep it hidden.
As they close in a killer who does not hesitate to kill again, they discover they have
become the next targets. . .
Critics have praised The Eagle Catcher as a tightly crafted
mystery that blends Native American culture and history with contemporary issues and
fast-paced action. It introduced two intelligent, compassionate sleuths: Father John
O'Malley, S.J., a history scholar and recovering alcoholic, exiled to an Indian mission
on the Great Plains, and Vicky Holden, an attorney who, after ten years in the
outside world, has returned to the reservation to help her people.
The Ghost Walker
Father John O'Malley comes across the corpse lying in a ditch beside the highway. When he returns with the police, it is gone. The Arapahos of the Wind River Reservation speak of Ghost Walkers—tormented souls caught between the earth and the spirit world, who are capable of anything.
Then, within days, a young man disappears from the Reservation without a trace. A young woman is found brutally murdered. And as Father John and Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden investigate these crimes, someone—or something—begins following them.
Together, Vicky and Father John must draw upon ancient Arapaho traditions to stop a killer, explain the inexplicable, and put a ghost to rest. . .
The Dream Stalker
The Wind River Reservation has agreed to use their land for a nuclear waste storage site. And why wouldn't they, when they've already been promised so much—millions in revenue, new jobs, and a better way of life. But Vicky Holden knows better. Building this facility isn't about helping the Arapahos. It is about power and greed. And she is ready to do whatever she can to protect the land and her people.
But someone involved wants to keep Vicky Holden quiet, and anyone else who stands in the way. After one man is murdered, and two attempts are made on Vicky's life, she knows she's involved in a crime much bigger than she ever imagined.
Now Vicky must look to her only true ally, Father John O'Malley. Together they begin a frenzied search through false promises and misguided dreams to find the truth of this harrowing crime—and restore the true spirit and dream of the Arapaho people. . .
The Story Teller
Father O'Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden return! When a sacred tribal artifact disappears from a museum, it's more than Arapaho history that is lost—it's an Arapaho student's life. . .
ABOUT MARGARET COEL
Margaret Coel is the author of four nonfiction books and many articles on the people and places of the American West. Her work has won national and regional awards. Her first John O'Malley mystery, The Eagle Catcher, was a national bestseller, garnering excellent reviews from the Denver Post, Tony Hillerman, Jean Hager, Loren D. Estleman, Stephen White, Earlene Fowler, Ann Ripley and other top writers in the field. A native of Colorado, she resides in Boulder.
AUTHOR
INTERVIEW
An interview with Margaret Coel
What kind of books do you like to read?
Everything. I'm a thoroughly addicted reader and have been as long as I can remember. For me, starting a new book is always like setting out on a new adventure. I never know what I may encounter on the way, and I can't wait to find out. Currently, I belong to two book discussion groups. What does that tell you?
Why do you write mystery novels?
I believe in the old saying: write what you love to read. While I read different kinds of books, I love to curl up with a good mystery. The only thing more fun than reading a mystery, in my opinion, is writing one.
Why write about the Arapahos?
Because I find the Arapaho culture and history endlessly rich and fascination. It's my hope that, as readers come along for the mystery, they will also come to appreciate a very interesting people.
Where do you find the plots for your mystery novels?
The newspapers. My plots are based on actual events and real issues. The plot for The Dram Stalker comes from efforts of the Federal government to place interim nuclear storage facilities on Indian reservations. The facilities can mean millions of dollars to a reservation. That kind of money could lead to murder, I decided, and to a good murder mystery plot.
How do you go about writing your novels?
Once I get the idea for the plot, I let it percolate until the main events begin to take shape in my mind. I start thinking about how Father John and Vicky will react, what they will do. At that point, I start outlining the book. A broad outline, at first. Then I break it into chapters. By the time I start the actual writing, I have the novel pretty well in hand. Of course, the unexpected can always happen. Father John and Vicky can be very independent—they can decide to do something other than what I had planned. That's when writing is the most fun.
DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS
Discussion Topics for THE EAGLE CATCHER
". . .shouldn't be missed by anyone interested in either new trends in mystery writing or contemporary American Indian culture. She's a master of both." —Tony Hillerman
- As an outsider, how does Father John adapt to the Arapaho culture? What particularly holds him and makes him want to stay at St. Francis?
- In what ways does Father John believe the Arapaho culture to be similar to his own? In what ways does he think it different?
- How does Father John's background and sensibilities help him solve the mystery?
- What conflicts are presented to Father John by his vocation as a priest? How does he attempt to handle them?
- Discuss the role of addictions in this novel. Many characters are addicts of one type or another. How do the various addictions influence the plot?
- In what way is Vicky Holden an outsider? How do her background and experiences help solve the mystery?
- Both Father John and Vicky are what the Arapahos call edge people. How are they affected by being edge people?
- What are the flaws that have kept characters like Ned Cooley and Jasper Owens from being the persons they might have been, given their privileged backgrounds?
- What is the significance of the title, THE EAGLE CATCHER? How does the theme of the eagle catcher run through the novel? In what way is Father John an eagle catcher?
Discussion Topics for THE GHOST WALKER
- Father John is a white man from Boston. In what ways does he identify with the Arapahos? What is it about the culture that makes him feel at home on the reservation?
- What is it that Father John wants in this novel? Does he achieve it?
- What advantages does Father John have as a priest in solving the mystery? What disadvantages?
- Discuss Father John's temptation to return to drinking. How does he overcome it?
- Discuss Vicky's complicated relationship with her daughter. How does it affect the development of the plot?
- Discuss the spiritual significance of Arapaho names. What are the various ways in which Vicky's Arapaho name identified her and helps her?
- What is the relationship between Father John and Vicky? What do each of them think about the relationship?
- Father John and Vicky are what the Arapahos call edge people. How does their being edge people help them solve the mystery?
- Discuss the significance of the ghost in Arapaho culture. How does the presence of the ghost help to move the plot along?
- In what ways are Father John and Vicky changed as they solve the mystery?
Discussion Topics for THE DREAM STALKER
- Who is the dream stalker? Discuss the meaning of the title within the framework of the plot.
- Discuss the importance of dreams within the Arapaho culture.
- What are the different values at stake in the novel? Discuss the way in which the values clash with one another.
- Discuss the character of Father John. What kind of man is he? What does he wish to achieve?
- Why do you believe Father John is driven to learn the identity of the murdered cowboy and eventually solve the murder?
- Discuss the character of Vicky. What is important to her?
- In what way is Vicky Holden a traditional Arapaho? In what way is she not?
- What is the relationship between Father John and Vicky. How do each of them see the relationship?
- Discuss how Father John and Vicky work together to solve the mystery. Discuss the ways in which they work at cross purposes.
- In what ways are the lives of the people on the reservation changed by the events in the novel?
Discussion Topics for THE STORY TELLER
- Discuss Vicky's position among her people as a woman and an attorney. What does she expect from the Arapahos?
- Discuss the character of Father John. Why is he willing to challenge his Jesuit superiors and put his own reputation on the line to establish a museum for St. Francis Mission? Why, when he finally gets an interview with the Provincial, does he go off with Vicky? How do his actions exemplify the conflicts in his life?
- What is Vicky's sense of the places that once belonged to her people and how does she react to being in these places? For example, the land where Denver is located, the plains of Colorado, the site of the Sand Creek Massacre.
- Discuss Vicky's background. Do you believe she feels guilty over her failed marriage and over not raising her own children? How does she handle the guilt?
- Discuss Vicky's determination to see justice done in the homicides of the young Arapahos. Why is she so determined and why does she feel so involved?
- Discuss the reasons Vicky wishes to find the missing Arapaho ledger book.
- What is the important of the ledger book to the plot?
- What does Father John hope to achieve in this novel? Does he achieve his goals?
- Discuss the relationship between Father John and Vicky.
- Discuss Vicky's relationship with her Denver friends. What does that relationship divulge about Vicky?
Related Titles
The Lost Bird
0425170594
After the murder of an elderly priest—Father John O'Malley's assistant on the Wind River Reservation—Father John thinks the bullet was meant for him. Father Joseph had been driving John's old Toyota right before he was killed. Consumed with anger and guilt, Father John is determined to find the murderer. Along the way, he teams up with Arapaho lawyer Vicky Holden when they discover Father Joseph had ties to a case of Vicky's, once again putting their lives in danger.
