Author Guest Post - Paty Jager

Please welcome Paty Jager to the blog.  She is an award-winning author of 32 novels, 6 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. This is what Mysteries Etc says about her Shandra Higheagle mystery series: “Mystery, romance, small town, and Native American heritage combine to make a compelling read.”  

Dreams, Clues, and Murder
Avery, thank you for having me on your blog. 

For those who don’t know me, I’m Paty Jager. I write murder mysteries and western romance. I grew up in the NE corner of Oregon where the Chief Joseph band of the Nez Perce wintered and summered before they were driven to Montana, and ultimately, surrendered to the Army. Growing up in the area I was frustrated that the history of the county wasn’t taught in the schools. Especially, how the Nez Perce tried to hang onto the land they loved. And then to only see them in the county once a year during the Chief Joseph Day’s Rodeo and Parade, seemed insulting to me. I’m not sure how they felt.

Because the non-treaty Nez Perce (the ones who refused to go on the reservation and fled to Montana) were thought to be a bad influence on the treaty Nez Perce, they weren’t allowed to set foot in the Wallowa country. In fact, after their surrender, they were taken clear to Oklahoma where they became ill and many died. Those that survived the 7 years of incarceration in Oklahoma were allowed to return to the Pacific Northwest but not to the Lapwai Idaho Reservation where the treaty Nez Perce resided. They were sent to the Umatilla and Colville reservations to live with tribes they had battled with before and who had scouted for the army to find them. 

I’m happy to say these days, there is a powwow held every July in Wallowa and the Nez Perce have purchased land in the county where they have fish naturalizing ponds and hatcheries. 

The reason I write about the Nez Perce is because of the injustice I feel they endured. And the vision of a Nez Perce warrior I saw on the mountain behind my family’s home one summer day as I rode my horse through the trees. 

My main character in my mystery series is Shandra Higheagle. I made her half Nez Perce and half White. Her Nez Perce father died when she was four. Her mother remarried a man who didn’t care for Native Americans and forbid her to talk of her father’s family or visit them. While the stepfather didn’t adopt her, he made her use his last name in school. 
 
When Shandra went on to college, she used her legal name of Higheagle and studied art, becoming a potter. She hadn’t thought much about it being a part of her heritage until she is called to the reservation where her grandmother and the rest of her family lives for her grandmother’s funeral. During the funeral and the Seven Drums Ceremony, Shandra discovers her family is interested in bringing her back into their lives. 

After the funeral, when Shandra returns to Huckleberry, she becomes a suspect in a murder. Her grandmother begins showing up in Shandra’s dreams, giving her clues that could help her solve the murder. 

All amateur sleuths need a sidekick who is in law enforcement. That is where Weippe County Detective Ryan Greer comes in. In book one, Double Duplicity, he realizes she isn’t the murderer even though she is found with the body. And when he catches her where she shouldn’t
be, looking for a clue, she tells him about her dreams. To her surprise, he believes in them more than she does. 

Their relationship builds throughout the series with a wedding on the horizon. 

While most of the books are set in and around Huckleberry Ski Resort and Shandra’s ranch on Huckleberry Mountain, there are also trips to the Colville Reservation in Washington where Shandra helps her family discover the truth when there are murders there. 

Shandra not only has Detective Greer on her side, but she has a big, furry, cowardly lion of a dog, a cantankerous woman who came with the ranch like a stray cat, and a slew of unique and quirky friends who live in Huckleberry. 

I use Shandra’s grandmother coming to her in dreams as the mysticism in my series. Everyone knows of dream catchers. The are many different versions of how this web within a hoop works. Some say it catches the good dreams and they slide down the feathers to the person sleeping under it and lets the bad dreams escape through the hole in the middle. Others say it captures the good ideas that make a person or people stronger and allows the bad ideas to pass on through. I used this concept along with that of the visions or vision quests, which are important to all tribes as well, and the fact the Nez Perce have long believed in the Seven Drums and Dreamer religion. It is a following that Chief Joseph and many in his band believed in. 

Putting all this information I’d gathered about the Native American cultures, dreams, and visions, I came up with the premise of the deceased grandmother coming to my character in dreams to help her solve murders. You can get the first book of the Shandra Higheagle Mystery series, Double Duplicity, free as an ebook at all ebook vendors. Books 1-5 are available in ebook, print, and audio. My narrator is working on book 6. My current book, book 10, Artful Murder, is available in ebook and print. 

Artful Murder by Paty Jager

Book ten in the Shandra Higheagle Mystery Series 

Secrets… Scandal… Murder…
An autistic boy and his brother need potter Shandra Higheagle’s help when a teacher’s body is found after a confrontation with the older brother. Shandra knows the boy is innocent. Digging into the teacher’s life, she and Ryan turn up scandal. 

Detective Ryan Greer has believed in Shandra’s dreams in the past, but she can’t always be right.  When his investigation uncovers a principal on the take, females being harassed, and parents kept in the dark, he discovers more suspects than the brothers.  Shandra’s time at the school is coming to an end, and the killer has struck again. 

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THANK You Ms Jager for the insight into your series.