Not Dead Enough

March 14, 2016
Easley’s absorbing fourth Cal Caxton Oregon mystery (after 2015’s Never Look Down) opens in 1957, with Native American Nelson Queah fighting the creation of the real-life Dalles Dam on the Columbia River, which will divert salmon migration flows—and fishing livelihoods—away from his village. One night, Nelson steps outside his door and is never seen again. Fifty years later, Nelson’s biologist granddaughter, Winona Cloud, asks Portland lawyer Cal to help her discover the truth about what happened to her grandfather. Suddenly, a killer is on the loose, and anyone connected with Nelson becomes a target. Meanwhile, local politician Jason Townsend has hopes of becoming a U.S. senator, backed by his father, who was in charge of the 1950s dam construction. In addition, wealthy developer Braxton Gage has plans to build a casino in the area. Easley skillfully blends fact and fiction in this tale of cultural conflict, politics, and murder with a likable hero at its heart.

April 1, 2016
A freelancing lawyer investigates a cold case involving a new friend's grandfather, who disappeared after a dispute over Native American lands. Philip Lone Deer has a habit of calling his friend Cal Claxton before daybreak to arrange fly-fishing trips on the spur of the moment. Cal's usually game; that's the kind of luxury being a self-employed lawyer affords you, just as Portland is a far cry from his job as a prosecutor in LA. The two are enjoying the waters when Philip invites Cal to a 50-year commemoration of the flooding of Celilo Falls and the building of the Dalles Dam. At the celebration, Philip introduces Cal to his cousin Winona Cloud, who implores Cal to look into a cold case involving the day the river was closed. Winona's grandfather Nelson Queah hasn't been seen since that day, though there was a report that he drunkenly stumbled into the river and drowned. A proud war hero and member of the Wasco tribe, Queah left behind a series of letters to his wife that humanize his desire to save the river and tell Cal that Winona's suspicion of foul play may be right. Agreeing to take the case, partly because he's drawn to beautiful, intelligent Winona, Cal's thrust almost immediately into an unresolved battle over the land and the money related to it. It doesn't matter that 50 years have gone by; someone is determined to kill those connected to the original construction of the dam, and Cal too, if he gets in the way. Cal has to use the survival skills he's honed in his short time in Portland (Never Look Down, 2015, etc.) to protect himself and maybe solve the mystery of Queah's death as well. Since so many characters have skin in the game, it's virtually impossible to invest heavily in any of the players: too many suspects leaves little room for human connection.

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May 1, 2016
Lawyer Cal Claxton fled his life in Los Angeles for a more agreeable one in Oregon's wine country. He fishes; plays with his pup, Archie; samples local pinot; and, when he needs bucks, takes on a not-too-demanding case. But troubled people find him. In Easley's fourth Claxton novel, a Native American woman needs his help. Her grandfather died more than half a century ago as he was protesting a dam that flooded his village. He was a drunk who fell in the waterthat was the verdict then, at leastbut the woman found a cache of letters that tell a different story. Claxton tracks down old-timers who remember that bad day, but they are murdered one by one. The narrative spends much time absorbing sights and smells of the glorious outdoors and detailing the political fights they engender. Some may find this slows the murder plot, but fans of Tony Hillerman and C. J. Box won't mindthe plot is still there and capable of delivering a jolt or two. Advise readers not to jump to that last page. Easley deserves his surprises.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)