Looking for Smoke
Ratings8
Average rating4.5
In her powerful debut novel, Looking for Smoke, author K. A. Cobell (Blackfeet) weaves loss, betrayal, and complex characters into a thriller that will illuminate, surprise, and engage readers until the final word. A must-pick for readers who enjoy books by Angeline Boulley and Karen McManus!
When local girl Loren includes Mara in a traditional Blackfeet Giveaway to honor Loren’s missing sister, Mara thinks she’ll finally make some friends on the Blackfeet reservation.
Instead, a girl from the Giveaway, Samantha White Tail, is found murdered.
Because the four members of the Giveaway group were the last to see Samantha alive, each becomes a person of interest in the investigation. And all of them—Mara, Loren, Brody, and Eli—have a complicated history with Samantha.
Despite deep mistrust, the four must now take matters into their own hands and clear their names. Even though one of them may be the murderer.
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Thanks to the publisher and Liibro.fm for the alc!
I was really invested in this mystery featuring four Blackfeet teens. It drew attention to the MMIW movement in a realistic way while also maintaining a compelling (not sensationalist) narrative. I found it really interesting that the four mc's were not all exactly close. This was no “mystery gang” situation, which made the plot much more suspenseful. They were all very different teens with distinct motivations and suspicions. The narration was fantastic. I would definitely recommend, and it's a great comp for “Firekeeper's Daughter”.
I loved this story. KA Cobell switches between 4POVS, which usually I don't like, but she does a great job of keeping the different POVs flowing with each other and the characters' individual narration styles are different enough that I enjoyed it. I LOVED Eli First Kill and his sister, they were probably my favorites, and Mara was also such a fun character. I hated Brody which worked out because he was the KILLER >:o . KA Cobell also brings up the gravity of issues faced by Native Americans, which was especially eye opening to me because I am largely unfamiliar them. Overall a great read.
