`Lost Bird' keeps readers on edge

"The Lost Bird"

By Margaret Coel

Berkley, $21.95

In four previous books, Colorado author Margaret Coel has kept readers on the edge of their seats, not just with her often-tense mysteries but with the ongoing forbidden attraction between Indian lawyer Vicky Holden and Catholic priest John O'Malley.

In "Lost Bird," several seemingly disparate events on the Arapaho reservation in Wind River, Wyo., begin the story: a priest assisting O'Malley is murdered, and a movie star comes to Holden searching for her lost adoptive parents.

Actually, the events are related, but because Holden and O'Malley try to avoid each other in denial of that attraction, each one finds out things related to the situation the other is dealing with. Finally, they begin to make the connections and get together to solve the mystery.

What they find, both in resolving the mysteries and about their personal relationship, is much more than author Coel hints at early in the book.

She's clever. Her stories are carefully crafted, her characters likable and believable, and her books a delight to read. Deft use of description (sounds, smells, the quality of light) puts the reader right into each scene.

Each of Coel's books provides a bit more insight into the Arapaho people and culture - which just gives us another reason to follow the series.

@CUTLINE: Margaret Coel describes sights, sounds and smells so well, readers feel they're in scenes.

Copyright 1999
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