Silent Are the Dead By D.M. Rowell: Review/Giveaway

Dec 21, 2024 | 2024 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Claire A Murray

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

Silent are the Dead follows D.M. Rowell’s 2023 Mary Higgins Clark Award finalist, Never Name the Dead, with another mystery for Kiowa Nation member Mae “Mud” Sawpole.

At the Kiowa Community Complex in Oklahoma, Mae participates in a ceremony to cleanse and secure a valuable Tribal artifact whose theft she and her cousin Denny had thwarted. Mae is asked to become the Storyteller Apprentice, an honor she dreamed of since childhood. Certain Tribal leaders, however, say Mae isn’t Kiowa enough for the honor because she is mixed race.

Mae’s plan to be in Oklahoma only a few days before returning to her Silicon Valley business for a critical client meeting gets complicated. And her Oklahoma roots run deeper than she realizes.
Her grandfather’s spring is being spoiled by the backwash from illegal fracking. Her brother Sky is back on the reservation rather than away at college. A rift between the Tribal leaders is disconcerting. Could one of them be involved with artifacts disappearing from families, or are some being coerced into selling them for much-needed cash to pay mortgages, rent, or food? A dead body disappears and just as mysteriously reappears in a different location.

Not knowing whom to trust beyond her cousin Denny, Mae is determined to find the source of all these issues, all while promising her assistant in California she’ll be back in time. Her business depends on it; her staff’s jobs depend on it.

Deceit, theft, and murder increase the stakes for everyone. The pressure builds, mirroring the hot, humid Oklahoma summer weather. Her Tribal roots pull Mae in one direction, despite long-held feelings about her mixed heritage, while her life in California pulls in another.

Through her telling, Rowell shares Kiowa customs and oral traditions with the reader, inviting them to peek into a culture different from their own. The characters come alive as Mae pokes into situations several people don’t want her to.

I rooted for Mae to set things right, as well as one person can, yet not leave her California life hanging in limbo. Can she do it? You’ll have to read it find out.

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win a copy of Silent Are the Dead, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “silent” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen January 4, 2025, 2024. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win, it will be deleted after the contest. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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Claire A Murray writes crime, mystery, fantasy, and sci-fi short stories and novels. She also writes reviews, hosts Zoom write-ins for aspiring and experienced authors, and is completing a suspense fantasy novel so she can return to her trilogy and two other novels awaiting revision. Play the Hand You’re Dealt is her crime and mystery short story collection. Find her at cam-writes.com.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, which are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.