Audiobook Review: Sacred Ground by Mercedes Lackey

Sacred Ground
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Narrator: Katie Anvil Rich
Publication: Tantor Audio (August 22, 2023)
Length: 11 hours

Description: From the New York Times bestselling author Mercedes Lackey comes contemporary fantasy Sacred Ground.

Jennifer Talldeer is Osage and Cherokee, granddaughter of a powerful Medicine Man. She walks a difficult path: contrary to tribal custom, she is learning a warrior's magics. A freelance private investigator, Jennifer tracks down stolen Native American artifacts.

The construction of a new shopping mall uncovers fragments of human bone, revealing possible desecration of an ancient burial ground. Meanwhile, the sabotage of construction equipment at the site implicates many activists—particularly Jennifer's old flame, who is more attractive and dangerous than ever. Worst of all, the grave of Jennifer's legendary Medicine Man ancestor has been destroyed, his tools of power scattered, and a great evil freed to walk the land.

Jennifer must make peace with the many factions and solve the mystery of her ancestor's grave before the world falls into oblivion.

My Thoughts: This story stars Jennifer Talldeer who is a private investigator and the granddaughter and apprentice of her grandfather who is a powerful medicine man. She's Osage and Cherokee. While she has many of the usual PI cases, her real joy comes from locating Native American artifacts and returning them to their tribes.

She is hired by an insurance company to determine whether the contractor for a new mall is hiding things that would make him uninsurable. Rod Calligan has a reputation for doing shoddy work. But problems at his latest site which include the explosion of one of his machines the killed four seems to be a step up. And when Native artifacts are discovered on the site, many of his Native American crew are refusing to continue work. 

Neither Jennifer nor her grandfather were aware of any Native burial site at that location and think that it was a cache that was discovered - a cache Calligan was planning to sell to the highest bidder. But things quickly take a turn to the paranormal when strange things begin to happen. Calligan had discovered the burial place and medicine bag of an evil spirit and the evil lives on and is trying to find a new place in the world. 

Meanwhile, Calligan is trying to accomplish an insurance scam by staging a series of "accidents" that will allow him to declare bankruptcy and get out from under a project he knows will be unsuccessful since he's already skimmed all the profit he can. He wants to cast blame for the failure on his Native American crew which brings in Jennifer's old boyfriend David Spotted Horse who has become an Indian Activist. 

This was a suspenseful mystery combined with lots of Native American mythology. I enjoyed it a lot. 

I bought this one from Chirp August 21. You can buy your copy here.