Author: David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Published: August 2020
Genre: Literary fiction, thriller, mystery

Virgil Wounded Horse, half-breed, mixed-blood, iyeska, a man living reluctantly in two worlds. A for-hire enforcer on South Dakota’s Rosebud Indian Reservation, Virgil struggles between his Lakota upbringing and the scars left by the tragic deaths of his mother and sister. Responsible now for his 14-year-old nephew, Nathan, his world tilts unexpectedly when an overdose of heroin almost takes Nathan’s life.

Justice can be hard to come by on the reservation, and Virgil finds himself pulled into a the mystery of the presence of heroin within the community. The federal government is authorized to prosecute felonies in Native American land, but often looks the other way. Tribal councilman, Ben Short Bear, offers Virgil $5,000 to locate Rick Crow, his prime suspect for bringing in the addictive substance from out of state. Virgil finds the offer unusual knowing Ben’s always considered Virgil’s version of delivering vengeance distasteful – especially when dating his daughter. But with Nathan now effected, he excepts the invitation knowing they don’t have the means to address Nathan’s legal troubles alone. Desperate to help his nephew, he and Ben’s daughter Marie (his ex-girlfriend), agree to investigate the source of the heroin.

On the surface, Weiden’s debut novel is a bit typical for crime novel: Outside source disrupts the status quo in a relatively poor community, drugs are pushed into a highly susceptible teen population, and vigilante justice prevails. What Weiden brings into the standard mix is an inside look at reservation life and the tension between Native American life and the U.S. government. There’s also well thought out internal conflicts of the novel’s main characters, coloring the suspenseful crime storyline with substance and heart. Weiden’s style of writing is forceful yet deep with the rich history of Lakota life sprinkled throughout. The term ‘winter count’ actually refers to the pictorial histories or calendars of the Lakota people. Each picture symbolizing an important event that serves as a marker for the year – at the end of Winter Count one can’t help but wonder what image Virgil would depict in his calendar.

When Nathan is pulled further into drugs and the precarious legal world it’s easy to get swept up in the fast pace of a ‘whodunit’ storyline, but there lurks a more serious line behind the action and suspense. Much of Virgil’s struggles, both internal and with his own people, hints at the heartbreak and betrayal that plagues the history of Indians since the arrival of European settlers. While some of Weiden’s characters have a tendency to fade into the background, the history he weaves through this crime novel will be hard to forget.

~Steph

Support you local bookstores and order Winter Counts from Bookshop.org