Outsider Marcy Morrison is the only witness to her fiancé, Ned Windsong's, death. Though she identifies two other Arapaho as the killers, there are doubts as to who killed Ned. Father John finds himself sheltering Marcy from any perceived threat while Vicki Holden, Arapaho attorney, finds herself the girl's legal counsel. Both are convinced they are doing what is right for the girl and the Wind River Reservation. They are united in their conviction that the girl is innocent of murder-- until the two men she identified show up dead.
THE SPIDER'S WEB is a very disappointing mystery, particularly the ending. The actions of the main characters don't tempt the reader to discover anything. The chemistry between the main characters makes me wonder why they're friends in the first place. They are weak in flavor and believability. One is written as an advocate for the community but the reader is never shown why. The other interacts with the community but comes across as weak-willed rather than good hearted. The one character that did engage my interest was Roseanne Birdwoman, who was written perfectly. If all the characters were written like that this book would have been superb.
It is the time of the annual Sun Dance on the Wind River Reservation, the ancient sacred ceremony that unites Arapahos in prayer and peaceful renewal. Yet when a blond, beautiful outsider arrives on the rez, murder, suspicion and recrimination follow in her path. Marcy Morrison claims to be engaged to Arapaho Ned Windsong, even though Ned never mentions a fiancé or plans to marry anyone—before he is found shot to death. Marcy, brutally attacked at the scene, identifies two Arapaho troublemakers as the men who burst into Ned's house and shot him. Nothing ties Marcy to the murder, yet all eyes on the reservation turn to her—the outsider—and Ned's family is convinced she is responsible. When Vicky Holden agrees to represent the outsider, she finds herself at odds with her own people. Soon Vicky also finds herself at odds with her long-time friend Father John O'Malley who has glimpsed something in the beautiful outsider that shakes him to his core and convinces him that Marcy Morrison may not be the innocent victim she claims to be. When the men Marcy has accused are found murdered in an abandoned barn, another suspect surfaces, Roseanne Birdwoman, Ned's former fiancé. Except that Father John fears Roseanne may be the killer's next intended victim. As Father John and Vicky are drawn into the web of lies and deceit cast over the reservation, they realize they are up against a master—a psychopathic killer determined to play out the game to the deadly end.
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