Kirk Mitchell's

     Anna Turnipseed and Emmett Parker Series


Cry Dance, Kirk Mitchell, Forge, A Bantam Book, ©1999, 354 pp. ISBN 0-553-57194-2
This is the first book in a series featuring Anna Turnipseed, a Modoc Indian who has just successfully completed an assignment in Las Angeles, and Emmett Parker, a Comanche Indian, veteran policeman and detective who now works as a special investigator for the Bureau of Indian affairs.

In this book they are called in to discover the cause of white woman, whose mutilated body is found on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Their investigation leads them to California where they become involved in the Native American Gaming industry. Anna goes undercover, gets close to the murderer and finds herself kidnapped and held prisoner. Emmett is working in his own way and finds his investigation leads to the person who has kidnapped Anna.

This is a fun book and a fun series. The characters are engaging, sometimes frustrating, but definitely not boring. Tight plotting and very good narrative and description make this book a fine read. I plan on reading them all. I rate it a 90% or A-.
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Spirit Sickness, Kirk Mitchell, A Bantam Book, ©2000, 254pp. ISBN 0-780553

Spirit Sickness is Kirk Mitchell's second book in the mystery series featuring Anna Turnipseed and Emmett Parker. Mitchell introduced us to them in Cry Dance. This book combines the Southwest/Navajo setting of a Tony Hillerman novel with the gruesome experience of Anne Rice.Anna Turnipseed, a Modoc Indian/ FBI agent based out of Las Vegas, and Emmett Parker, an investigator for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, are called in to investigate the death of a Navajo policemen and his wife.
Their investigation weaves in and out of normal police procedure, Navajo society and the mind of a psychopathic killer who appears to have supernatural powers.

This book continues two interesting threads that were started in the first book, Cry Dance. The hints of romance between Anna and Emmett continues. Both are still reluctant to commit. It's a nice change from what has occurred in many books lately where it's always the man who won't commit. I expect this thread to continue in the next books as well.

The second thread that continues is that one of the detectives gets hurt badly enough to be hospitalized and the other must continue the investigation without the other. In this booka Gila Monster bite incapacitates one of the pair. If this thread continues both detectives are going to be pretty well scarred before their romance is consummated.

Mitchell wrote a suspenseful, well-plotted book. Both main characters are interesting and engaging. I like the hints of romance between them and I can't wait to find out who gets hurt and how badly in the next book. I grade it a B+ or 89%.
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Ancient Ones, Kirk Mitchell, A Bantam Book, ©2001, 326 pp. ISBN-0-553-10914-6
In this third book in the series, Anna Turnipseed and Emmett Parker are assigned to "keep the peace" in northeastern Oregon when an anthropological discovery indicates that Caucasians may have lived in the area thousands of years before Native Americans lived in the area. On one side is a well-known anthropologist who wants to study the skeletons in hopes of proving his pet theory that early Native Americans were cannibalistic. On the other side are local tribes who want to bury the bones of their ancestors. One of the parties cares enough to murder those who oppose their position. Anna and Emmett are trying to discover who is the murderer. Like other books in this series, Anna and Emmett are trying to develop their relationship. They are seeing a counselor together, trying to work through Anna's problem of having been abused as a child. Emmett is frustrated by her on again, off again feelings for him. The strain between them affects their work. Anna decides to leave the team and take an FBI position in Washington D.C. Also like the other books in this series, one of them is injured badly enough to require hospitalization. One wonders how long this trend will continue. Mitchell has an excellent series here: well-written, tightly plotted and suspenseful. There is enough anthropological information to make this series stand firmly in the genre Tony Hillerman created. I've got to put this book in the A category, or 94%.

 

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Sky Woman Falling, Kirk Mitchell, A Berkely Prime Crime Book, ©2003, 342 pp. ISBN-0-425-19191-5
When Brenda Two Kettles is found dead and appears to have fallen to her death from the sky, Anna Turnipseed and Emmett Parker are called in to investigate the murder. This fourth in Kirk Mitchell's Turnipseed/Parker series puts Anna and Emmett on the Oneida Reservation in New York.
On and off the small Oneida Reservation, tension is thick. The Oneida Indian tribe has won a federal lawsuit declaring that all treaties between the Oneida and the State of New York are illegal. The non-Indian locals are concerned they will lose their property and feelings are turning violent. The Oneida Tribe members are feeling threatened. Anna and Emmett must try to solve the murder when all concerned have no interesting cooperating with anyone.
This book, too has lots of suspense. Mitchell creates great suspense switching points of view between Anna, Emmett and an unknown character who becomes increasingly neurotic and dangerous.
The romance between Anna and Emmett appears to have stalled. Each of them is treading carefully around the other and neither wants to broach the subject with the other. The thread of injuring and hospitalizing one of the detectives continues with a near fatal shooting. Mitchell has written another very good book with enough suspense to keep the pages turning and keeping me coming back for more. I grade this book an A or 95%.
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Dance of the Thunder Dogs, Kirk Mitchell, A Berkely Prime Crime Book, ©2004, 342 pp. ISBN 0-425-19836-7
This is the fifth book in Kirk Mitchell's Anna Turnipseed and Emmett Parker series. At the time of the writing of this review, it is the newest. Hopefully, Mitchell will publish another one soon. I hesitate to call this an Anna Turnipseed and Emmett Parker book, because Anna doesn't appear at all except in a few of Emmett's thoughts and a couple of conversations where she is mentioned.
This book takes place several months after Emmett was injured in the previous book, Sky Woman Falling, he is still on leave recovering from the injury he received in that book. He has not heard from Anna and his having doubts about himself, Anna, and his career.
Emmett does what any sane person would do when in such a state. He goes home to his mother. While there he renews old friendships and wonders if he shouldn't return to the old ways of his people. He quickly finds himself trying to help a friend who is investigating the disappearance of tribal funds. In the process, he is framed, accused of multiple murders and is forced to lead the FBI and the various Oklahoma police departments on a cross country chase.
As usual, Mitchell has created a suspenseful, exciting novel that is a real page turner that's hard to put down. It was interesting to see Emmett on his own, but I hope Anna appears in the next one. I rate it a good solid A or 94%.
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