by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Winter’s Child, and a link to order it from Amazon, as well as a link to purchase it from an indie bookstore where a portion goes to help support KRL.

During a snow storm five years ago, Myra and Eldon Little Shield found a baby on their doorstep. They caught a glimpse of a woman with long black hair running back to a pickup truck but have no other clues as to who the baby’s parents are. They’d just lost their own baby and are thrilled to take this child as their own. The only thing is, the baby is white.

The child, now known as Mary Ann Little Shield, has to register for school, so she has to have a birth certificate. Myra and Eldon hire Clint Hopkins, a lawyer who specializes in adoptions to find the best way for them to legally keep her. After all, it’s been five years and no one had come forward to claim her.

Clint, in turn, asks Vicky Holden, an Arapaho lawyer, to act as co-counsel. Clint wants to give Vicky his notes on the case at the monthly meeting of the Fremont County Bar Association and then have a more formal appointment to discuss strategy the next day. In spite of a snowstorm, they meet and Clint hands over his notes with little explanation.

Leaving the meeting, Clint heads for his car but is hit by a truck that doesn’t stop. Everyone thinks the driver didn’t see Clint because of the storm—everyone but Vicky that is. She says the truck waited for Clint to cross and then deliberately hit him. Since the Little Shield case is the only one he’d been working on, if the hit and run was really murder, what does that mean for Vicky, now that she’s got the case?

Of course, it’s not her only case. She’s got Vince, a drunk who tried to rob a woman at the ATM. She’s arranged a plea agreement, but it involves Vince turning himself in the next day. In the meantime, Vince comes into some money although no one knows how, and goes on one last bender. Balancing a sympathy call to Clint’s wife, an investigative call to his office, and desperate calls from Vince’s mother most of Vicky’s day is eaten up.

In the meantime, her good friend, Father John O’Malley, is hosting his niece, Shannon, as she researches her dissertation. The topic is two young sisters who were kidnapped by the Cheyenne. One was returned to her home, one married an Arapaho. Shannon’s stay was to be a short visit, but once she meets James it looks like she might have a reason to stay.

This is book twenty in the Wind River Mystery series. Vicky and Father John are compelling characters, each with challenges they are trying to overcome. Margaret Coel has the ability to weave the history of the two sisters into the current situation with the abandoned child and even with Shannon and James to create a world where the reader feels part of it, rather than an observer.

As a priest, Father John has limited control over his future. As a lawyer, Vicky is faced with cases that where no outcome is ideal and who is to decide which is right? The books can be read out of order, but be warned, readers will want to go back to the beginning to see how Vicky and Father John have evolved.

To enter to win a copy of Death of an Winter’s Child, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “winters,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 17, 2016. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & short stories in our mystery section.

Use this link to purchase the book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

Winter’s Child

You can also use this link to purchase the book on Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch, in the land of blues, booze and shoes—St Louis, Missouri. While writing magazine articles to support her mystery book habit, she secretly polishes mystery books of her own, hoping, someday, they will see the light of Barnes and Noble and a Kindle. You can find several of Sandra’s short stories at Untreed Reads including her newest, “Arthur,” included in the anthology titled, Flash and Bang, available now. Look for Denali, in the anthology Dogs and Dragons.