Adam Coulter has returned and is coping with the horrific events of sixteen months ago as best he can, but not everyone is happy about it. His best friend and new husband, Detective Eagle Woodard, doesn’t want to speak to him and it’s starting to look like his fifth marriage isn’t going to be anymore successful than his other four.
FBI Agent Rick Kessler and Navajo Reservation Police Lieutenant Carlos Aiello, Eagle’s cousin, have pulled a reluctant Adam into another case. Five bodies discovered at the site of a planned casino, all dressed and painted up as Native American mythological characters offer confusing clues. Are they dealing with another serial killer?
Fighting to stay clean and sober, Adam’s 12 step sponsor is murdered. At first it seems unrelated to what he saw in the desert, but evidence comes to light that says otherwise. Revelations concerning Adam’s past and his father, Richard Coulter’s, connections to the local crime syndicate boss, Nelson Greybill come to light.
Can Adam repair the damage he’s done to his relationship with Eagle so he can help him solve this case? Can he win back the only man he’s ever truly loved, or will the demons of his past win the battle for his soul?
Purchase: Amazon.com
Goodreads: Mountainway Chant (Coulter and Woodard #2)
Review
*I received a copy of this novel for free in exchange for an honest review*
Rating: 3 stars
When Adam Coulter returns after 16 months he is determined to get his life back on track, however he is soon drawn into another murder investigation. Forced to work together once more with his husband, Eagle Woodard, Adam soon realises that this case is tied to him in ways that he couldn’t have realised. Can Adam and Eagle reconcile in time to solve the case and if so is there a hope for a future together after all?
I liked the second instalment in the series a little less than the first book hence the slightly lower rating. As with the first novel there were aspects I really liked and aspects I didn’t.
I do love a good murder mystery and for that Mountainway Chant does not disappoint. I enjoyed reading how the plot unfolded and how all the connections to the main characters were made. The final showdown was gripping and kept me turning the pages to find out what happened next. The writing seemed to have been tightened up in this book as well, with less confusion over the names and nicknames of the characters.
What I didn’t like was some of the reactions of the characters as they still seemed really random and emotions seemed to change at the drop of a hat and with no warning or reason. So much so I almost got whiplash. As well it seems that everyone has slept with everyone else at some point (or still is!) and I cannot keep track of who has what relationship with whom. A lot of this seems needless drama and it would have been a lot better to have been cut out of the book completely. The novel would have benefitted from less side complications that seemed to have been only put in for drama, which it didn’t need as it has plenty of that already!
I am interested to see what happens in the third instalment of the series, but I’m slightly less enthusiastic about it than I was at the end of book one.
Shari Sakurai 