Cry Dance

An Emmett Parker and Anna Turnipseed Mystery

By: Kirk Mitchell

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

If there's one thing that Bureau of Indian Affairs Investigator Emmett Quanah Parker knows, it's that the dead don't always stay dead.

When the corpse of a woman, brutally murdered and bizarrely mutilated, is discovered on Havasupai Nation land, Parker is paired with FBI Special Agent Anna Turnipseed in a hastily assembled task force of two. The two share a mixed Native American ancestry - and little else. As they are pulled deeper into a complex case, Parker suspects they are being led, like Custer to a Little Bighorn, into a killer's trap.

©1999 Kirk Mitchell (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Nail-bitingly intense....A breathless page-turner...with memorable Native American myths and an outdoorsman's respect for the Southwest's brutal beauty." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"Plenty of strenuous treks through rugged terrain....What a great guy to keep around." ( New York Times Book Review)

Educational and interesting

Gripping at times, hard to follow at times with all the different names. Narrator a little monotonal but easy to understand.

Surprisingly captivating the longer you listen.

I wasn’t sure I would be able to get engaged enough to enjoy this book for first few minutes, but I’m so glad I kept listening!

Good story

tribal-police, FBI, crime-fiction, audiobook, mysteries, suspense, detective, mutilation, murder-investigation, murders, recovering-alcoholic, PTSD, divorced, Native American, thriller, threats****

I came to this one after finding it on sale and wanting a start of a series. The characters are engaging and the descriptions are clear and imaginative. I will definitely read more in series.
I liked the story but wasn't my favorite narrator.

Good story line, a few mispronounced words

For someone who lives in the area, hearing "Havasupai" and "caliche" mispronounced was tough, but I enjoyed the story and hearing places around me referenced, I could easily visualize the landscape .

Review of Cry Dance

Really enjoyed this story and look forward to more in this series. Interesting characters and storyline and it moved at a good pace.
An inexperienced FBI agent, Anna Turnipseed, is paired with a BIA agent, Emmett Parker, to look into the death of a BLM employee whose body was found on Havasupi land. They are both of native American descent and it is thought that this will help when questioning the locals. They don't seem to get along at first. Anna goes undercover at an Indian casino and encounters some people who seem to be keeping secrets. Several others connected with gambling have been killed and there is quite a range of people getting involved including some Jamaicans, Vegas thugs, other tribes and tribal officials.
Some interesting tribal traditions are discussed. The clues lead them all over the southwest thru some desolate country. It appears as if some people from Emmett's past are involved. The killer is quite brutal in his killings and Anna fears she is on his radar.

good introduction

Good story as an introduction to the characters for future stories. Plot seems obvious till very end. then a twist I should have seen but missed.

Awesome

If I were leaving this book I would not have been able to put it down! Great characters, plot, performance. Definitely looking forward to mor Kirk Michell bonks.

So close to being really great—

This one took me forever only because I have been zoning out on tv rather than listening to my audiobook.

But, I am now done and it’s one of those a bit hard to rate due to one major issue: the whole description of how our main character, Emmet Parker, leers at his new partner, like “she’s shapely, etc etc” always somehow about her appearance. Yes, we get it, she’s hot. Then, in other parts of the book, Parker describes seemingly every type of Native American based upon their physical descriptions. Example: So and so had a “sharp cheekbone” or “hooked nose”, etc. First, ok - you can just tell me that this person is Cherokee, and guess what? That’s enough. Secondly, the author, Kirk Mitchell, felt the need to involve each tribe in some way. Like all of them. Now, neither their descriptions nor their tribes had any bearing on anything. So why include it?

I will say this, however, I love Mitchell’s vocabulary. You know exactly who’s talking and how they looked, their posture, sweating, tics, etc - all without overly using repetitive words. I probably counted 20 uses of the word “said” with dialogue? And that’s awesome! The guy knows variety!

Stefan Rudnicki has a great, soothing baritone voice. He knew the right pace for this story, and he had the sound of a grizzled veteran in the field.

There was one small moment when I really cracked up; a scene wherein Parker is speeding towards a location— to paraphrase: “The other cop cars whooshed past him. Parker was driving 100 mph, which means they were doing at least that.”
—————
No, honey, if they whooshed past our hero, it means they were driving a skosh *faster* than him!


I see this is the beginning of a series. I may listen to the next in due time, but I won’t whoosh to the next book. 4/5

Author is great! Narration is excellent.

K. Mitchell has the same depth and breadth about his writing as Michael
Connolly, who I hold as a standard for realistic police procedurals. S. Rudnicki
is paired perfectly with this work. Thanks. I'm glad I found this combination!

good descriptivt characters, setting,,culture

Good read, but not suspenseful enough for me. I would give Tony Hillerman a 5 in story telling and this book a 3.