Daredevil's Apprentice — Letha Albright

In the fast-moving, action-filled Daredevil's Apprentice, small-town reporter Viv Powers learns that horrible lesson when her best friend and fellow adventurer, Cherokee storyteller Lucie Dreadfulwater, calls for Viv's help after she kills a man. Viv renders assistance, and then is plagued by doubts: Was it self-defense or homicide? Would her best friend have involved her in a cold-blooded murder? She sets out to find the truth in spite of the danger she encounters from human predators and the rumors that echo in the hills around her--of a man-eating witch of Cherokee legend.

In the Ozarks of northeast Oklahoma, gamblers, musicians, journalists, land developers, and artists live together in the shadow of the tragic Cherokee past. Old and deadly secrets collide with present-day greed and vengeance to shatter small-town calm as Viv insists on prying into the deaths set in motion by her friend Lucie's violent act. Viv is as strong and steady as the hills where she makes her home, and as courageous as her daredevil friend. But can she face the truth about Lucie, and about the never-quite-forgotten past?

Viv Powers is a strong female protagonist who will appeal to readers of Nevada Barr, and everyone who enjoys a well-written, suspenseful mystery.