Review of Pete Sheild’s Remnants

Pete Sheild’s Remnants, a sequel to his first novel Bad Medicine, provides an intriguing mystery at the very start. Set in South Dakota in 1977, the water level of Lake Oahe is dropping and has revealed a long-buried car from the Department of Indian Properties. The bodies of two DPI agents are presumed to be inside. 

Jimmy Marino, the protagonist in this cozy mystery, is freaked out at the discovery. He and his Grandpa Colby clashed with the two DPI agents seven years prior, in Sheild’s first novel, while searching for the valuable Thomas Jefferson Peace Medal. Jimmy is afraid a further investigation into the submerged vehicle will lead to their part in the accident. He also wants to search the newly uncovered lakebed to retrieve the Peace Medal his Grandfather tossed into the lake.

Jimmy works in the Caboose bar and grill, which was gifted to his girlfriend Sarah when her grandmother Katherine died. Jimmy, 26, is overwhelmed with working the bar, feeling pressure from Sarah to get married, and eyeing a stranger named Paul who appears asking about the Peace Medal and looking for a job. Sheild does a credible job in drawing Jimmy’s character as a young man who is on the cusp of maturing and yet resists the forces surrounding him, because he doesn’t feel ready for what life is throwing at him. Then Sarah announces she’s pregnant, and his Grandpa gets sick.

Jimmy is further freaked out and decides he must find the Peace Medal in order to cement his connection with his Grandfather, a man who is emotionally available to him and a solid stand-in for his remote father. Through a series of twists, the real Peace Medal is located in the sacred land of the Lakota. Jimmy cannot access the land unless he participates and completes an inipi during a sweat lodge. Jimmy does this and is then able to find the Peace Medal.

Sheild does a terrific job with setting in this novel. The seventies are thoroughly established with copious details, like specific songs playing on the Caboose’s jukebox, product names strategically placed, even characters’ clothing calling that era to mind. The only phones are landlines, patrons can smoke indoors, and small-town values are clearly delineated by the pastor and characters’ behavior. His command of description is detailed and thorough and is easily pictured in the reader’s mind. Most notably, Sheild superbly handles details related to the Native American characters and history in the novel. He weaves his research seamlessly into the story’s action. Jimmy’s inipi is a standout example.

The story has a suspenseful finish that won’t be revealed here in order to not spoil the ending. Suffice it to say that Sheild does tie up all loose ends and satisfies the reader with the outcome. It is easy to see this cozy as the second in a continuing series.