It falls to university professor Dr. Gavin Lone Wolf to protect and preserve his family's surprising legacy and to solve a murder on South Dakota's Smokey River Indian Reservation. Set within the framework of the historical Battle of the Little Bighorn (which some might know as Custer's Last Stand), a well-kept secret about the battle is revealed after Gavin's grandmother's death sets in motion a frenzied search for a historical artifact from the battle at the same time a murder investigation is underway to find out who killed a student at Gavin's university. In the process of investigating the murder and a long-lost eyewitness account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn from the perspective of a Native participant, we meet Gavin Lone Wolf's family and other characters who appear in the Smokey River Suspense Series. Gavin's twin brother has his own security company in Washington DC; his Uncle Andrew is a medicine man whose wisdom and worldly experience guides Gavin's choices. We meet the dedicated chief and lieutenant of the Smokey River Tribal Police, several surprising villains, and a beautiful Native woman to whom Gavin was engaged who may or may not be back in the picture. Lakota author Joseph M. Marshall III seamlessly blends Native cultural history with contemporary issues, bringing characters to life with his signature capacity for cinematic detail. As an award-winning nonfiction writer who was raised by his grandparents in a Native household on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Marshall excels at portraying the closeness of extended Native families and the importance of vision quests and reading the meaning of signs in dreams. By the end of the book, we feel we know the Smokey River community and want to know more about them and Gavin Lone Wolf, his family, and his past and future.
