American Indian Culture and Research Journal

Through analysis of two debut novels, Linda Hogan's Pulitzer-Prize-nominated murdermystery Mean Spirit 1990 and Tom Holm's private eye detective story The Osage Rose 2008, this article considers what Native-authored mystery fiction has to offer in terms of self-representation of Indigenous history and culture. Paying particular attention to detective fiction genre elements—such as the novels' openings, the detectives, the forms of detection, and the resolution—shows how Hogan and Holm employ the mystery genre to present Native narratives about the Osage oil murders, and, given their ability to reach wide audiences, how such narratives ultimately provide broader understandings of Indigenous history and culture.