From the award-winning and #1 bestselling author of The Back of the Turtle; Green Grass, Running Water and The Inconvenient Indian
Synopsis:
Thumps DreadfulWater’s world is turned upside down when Nina Maslow, the producer of a true-crime reality-TV show, turns up dead after working on a cold case that Thumps has spent years trying to forget. What’s more, someone seems set on taunting Thumps, leaving reminders of the Obsidian murder case around town. Is it possible that the elusive serial killer who murdered his girlfriend and her daughter all those years ago has resurfaced in Chinook? Or is this the work of a copycat looking to mess with Thumps by stirring up memories from his past?
Dragged back into a case that has haunted him for years, Thumps DreadfulWater is determined to solve the mystery of the Obsidian murders. But as he works the case, he begins to realize just how dangerous the person he is dealing with is—and that he might be the next target.
Thumps DreadfulWater, the sly, wry, reluctant investigator of Cold Skies and A Matter of Malice, returns in another irresistible mystery that only Thomas King could create.
Heather says…
Thomas King is a well-known American-Canadian Indigenous author who has written over 13 novels, a book of poetry and 5 children’s stories. Although he is best known for his non-fiction, The Inconvenient Indian: a curious account of native people in North America and his Governor General’s, award-winning novel, The Back of a Turtle, I was surprised to learn that he also writes murder mysteries. Initially, these novels were published under the pen name Hartley GoodWeather.
The book Obsidian is the 5th in his series of Dreadful Water Mysteries about a police officer named “DreadfulWater”. I found the book an interesting read with lots of the humour and the critical irony that Thomas King is famous for. For example, after reading the nutritional guide on a frozen food dinner, the main character comments “Sugar, fat, salt unpronounceable chemicals. The ready-to-eat food industry was the new cartel, its CEO’s the new drug dealers.”
Thomas King novels appeal to a certain type of reader, which appreciates irony and dry humour along with indigenous folklore.
