An elder from a nearby Hopi village approaches Laura about finding his granddaughter. Judy has been missing for over two weeks, along with several other girls from neighboring tribes. A man in Judy’s village has had visions of Powakas (Navajo skinwalkers) riding the girls like animals, two hearts, and a woman killer, (who is assumed to be Laura) and the old man fears Judy’s life is in danger. Unfortunately, many Indian families are very private and do not trust outsiders, including tribal police, and they have made very little effort to track down the girls.

Laura generally searches only for information about the people, and not the people themselves, but agrees to look for Judy. She is a bit apprehensive about revisiting the reservation and having to confront her past head on. When she arrives on the reservation, she learns two tribal members have been murdered and priceless artifacts have been stolen.

Laura is instantly plunged into a world of Hopi versus Navajo and American Indians against other Americans. She gets caught up in the stealing and underground selling of artifacts, the world of rodeos and dead horses and meth labs, all the while trying to do the hardest thing of all, escape from herself.

When one of the girls is found dead and mutilated, Laura realizes that someone may be killing these girls to get their spirits and their power. She also realizes that this person is much more diabolical and dangerous than just rodeo riders who might date rape buckle bunnies, as rodeo groupies are called.

Laura ran away from home at an early age. She married young and had a baby girl who was taken by her husband almost twenty years ago. While the reader is given glimpses into Laura’s past at events that may have caused her current problems, this aspect is never completely explored making Laura an unsympathetic and even unbelievable character at times.

Laura has purchased a new identity and when officials come close that that truth, her partner has another identity already lined up for her. Throughout the novel, she struggles so much with her past and present, yet at the very end, she flings her ID out the car window and seems to be willing to go back to her heritage.

Butterfly Lost can be seen as Laura’s search for these lost girls, or as a metaphor for her search for self. David Cole’s first novel offers an interesting, if not negative and depressing view, of Native American life. The reader will never get too close to the characters, but perhaps this is because of the Indians’ reserved nature. The mystery is intriguing, but when the solution comes, it is not entirely satisfying, but that may be the point.

This book is a haunting tale that will leave the reader a bit uneasy at the end. The mystery of the missing girls has been solved, but Laura may still have many more miles to go before she can make peace with herself.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry