I really enjoyed Native American author D M Rowell’s first novel, Never Name the Dead, which introduced Mae ‘Mud’ Sawpole, a member of the Kiowa tribe who’d been building a successful career in Silicon Valley before being called back to Oklahoma only to discover a tribe in disarray, her grandfather missing, and fracking shattering the land.

First time out Rowell did a good job drawing readers in and seasoning her debut with lots of Kiowa culture and history, balancing action with fascinating characters. Unfortunately she doesn’t strike quite the same balance with this patchier second effort. Sophomore slump? Picking up almost immediately after the first book,
Silent Are the Dead sees Mud keen to return to California to deal with life-changing work deadlines, but dragged into investigating theft of artifacts from the tribal museum, and reports of a body being found.

Overnight, she traverses tribal lands with her cousin Denny, searching for answers, and arguing about who to believe. Some of this gets quite repetitive, in between some really cool set-pieces or moments, and nice insights into Kiowa history and culture. Rowell clearly has storytelling talent, and it’s great to have her voice in the mystery genre. However, Silent Are the Dead could have perhaps done with some tighter editing. While feeling slightly underwhelmed by book two, I’m still interested in the next in the series.

Book review by Craig Sisterson

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Like her protagonist Mud, D M Rowell comes from a long line of Kiowa Storytellers within a culture that treasures oral traditions. She’s an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and has spent decades preserving sacred stories shared by tribe elders.

During her career spinning stories for corporations, Rowell often escaped to produce independent documentaries. She is an award-winning and nominated producer and scriptwriter on several documentaries, including Vanishing Link: My Spiritual Return to the Kiowa Way, seen on PBS and winner of TrailDance 2007 Best Oklahoma Documentary.

After her three-decade hi-tech career, Rowell started a new chapter writing a mystery series that features a Silicon Valley professional Kiowa woman and her Plains Indian tribe. The first in the series is Mary Higgins Clark Award nominated, Never Name the Dead, Crooked Lane Books, November 8, 2022. Second in the series is Silent Are the Dead.

Visit D M Rowell’s website