From Publishers Weekly
Among the best mysteries featuring Native American characters and milieu are Hager's stories, especially those starring plucky, part-Cherokee Molly Bearpaw, investigator for the Native American Advocacy League on tribal lands in rural Oklahoma. When storyteller Tom Battle falls to the ground during a festival, all eyes turn to Wolf Kawaya, sworn political enemy of Battle and former husband of Battle's current lover. Wolf belongs to the militant True Echota Band and Tom, a lawyer, had recently won several decisions in the Cherokee Nation's court fights with the Band. Eventually, nicotine poisoning is given as the cause of death and Molly must untangle motivations of the heart and politics among suspects who also include schizophrenic loners and overprotective family members. Although the politics are sometimes cursorily handled, Hager explores the Cherokee culture with trenchant compassion rather than overcareful reverence and deftly inserts hairpin turns into the narrative. Her characters sparkle with humor and sorrow and, occasionally, with treachery. This is the second in a series that began with Ravenmocker. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Tony Hillerman fans will enjoy this mystery set in Oklahoma and featuring members of the Cherokee tribe. Spirited Molly Bearpaw, an investigator for the Native American Advocacy League who also appeared in Ravenmocker (1992), determines to help her best friend, Daye Hummingbird, when Daye's fianc{‚}e, Tom Battle, a tribal lawyer and well-known storyteller, is killed by a poison dart at a local Cherokee festival. Molly can think of only two reasons why Battle might have been murdered: Daye's hot-tempered ex-husband killed Battle because he resented her engagement, or a member of the neoconservative True Echota Band killed Battle because of his anti-TEB activities. Hager, who is herself one-sixth Cherokee, shows a good understanding of Cherokee tribal life in today's modern world, and she deftly characterizes a whole range of intriguing Native American personalities, from wise elders coping with contemporary life to renegade youngsters ignoring ancient tribal traditions. Molly Bearpaw is an intelligent and tenacious heroine who is sure to attract fans. Emily Melton


From Kirkus Reviews
Molly Bearpaw, sole investigator for Oklahoma's Native American Advocacy League, once again tackles a case of murder in this slow-moving follow-up to Ravenmocker (1992). The victim is activist lawyer Tom Battle, shot by a blowgun as he narrates a Cherokee folk tale at the annual heritage celebration devoted to the tribe's crafts and history. Molly confronts a tangle of mixed- up characters in and around the heritage activities: Battle's lover, Daye Hummingbird, a painter whose nasty ex-husband, Wolf Kawaya, carves blowguns; weaver Regina Shell, the only support for her sick twin brother, Steven, who's in and out of psychiatric hospitals; Maud Wildcat, a weaver and grandmother of unruly Robert, who'd used the blowgun. It proved not to be the cause of Battle's death, but Maud is superstitiously convinced that a display of priceless wampum relics never shown before is the true assassin. Working with D.J. Kennedy, her policeman lover, and Tony Warwick, the tribal investigator from Muskogee, Molly rehashes scant evidence and tortured lives until the wampum disappears and light begins to dawn. Heavily padded with inane chatter, balky romances, and snippets of Indian folklore, this is far from Hager's best, and no match for her Chief Bushyhead adventures (Ghostland, 1991, etc.). -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"The redbird is the daughter of the Sun. And if she had been brought home safely, the people could have brought back their friends from the ghost country..." The tale of the redbird explains the origin of death in Cherokee myth, and it is a story intricately woven into the rich fabric of this remarkable new Molly Bearpaw mystery. Following the acclaimed debut work in this series, Ravenmocker, The Redbird's Cry solidifies the reputation of Jean Hager, a veteran writer drawing upon a unique contemporary setting and featuring a resilient new heroine. It is autumn in Oklahoma. The woods are strewn with hackberry leaves, and a chill is in the air. For Molly Bearpaw, an investigator for the Native American Advocacy League, it is a lovely time of year, while for her elderly grandmother, it is a time of foreboding. When a terrible crime is committed at the Cherokee National Museum, it fulfills the old woman's worst premonitions and plunges Molly into a struggle for the truth. At the museum, amidst looms and basket weavings, a bright young lawyer is struck down in a crowd, the victim of a poisoned dart. Is the killer a troubled teenager? If so, was he the pawn of someone more powerful? Molly Bearpaw and Deputy D. J. Kennedy strongly suspect the involvement of the hot-headed leader of the True Echota Band, a group involved in lawsuits against the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Soon Molly is trying to solve not just a murder, but a whole string of crimes. Then when priceless, ancient wampum belts, relics whose powers frighten many traditional Cherokees, are stolen from the museum following the murder, she is sure the murder was caused by something far greater than a personal vendetta. Redbird's Cry delves into the real-life trials and tribulations of the modern Oklahoma Cherokees. With Hager's deft characterizations, strong plotting, and Molly Bearpaw's resourcefulness and complexity, The Redbird's Cry is a gripping mystery - and a brilliant successor to Ravenmocker.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Among the best mysteries featuring Native American characters and milieu are Hager's stories, especially those starring plucky, part-Cherokee Molly Bearpaw, investigator for the Native American Advocacy League on tribal lands in rural Oklahoma. When storyteller Tom Battle falls to the ground during a festival, all eyes turn to Wolf Kawaya, sworn political enemy of Battle and former husband of Battle's current lover. Wolf belongs to the militant True Echota Band and Tom, a lawyer, had recently won several decisions in the Cherokee Nation's court fights with the Band. Eventually, nicotine poisoning is given as the cause of death and Molly must untangle motivations of the heart and politics among suspects who also include schizophrenic loners and overprotective family members. Although the politics are sometimes cursorily handled, Hager explores the Cherokee culture with trenchant compassion rather than overcareful reverence and deftly inserts hairpin turns into the narrative. Her characters sparkle with humor and sorrow and, occasionally, with treachery. This is the second in a series that began with Ravenmocker. (Apr.)

BookList - Emily Melton