Michael feels he has to choose between the white world and the Winnebago. Renata want him to give her a chance and let her in. Michael keeps pushing her away because she is white. She works hard to try to learn about his heritage and culture. While the question is will he allow her to be a part of his world. I got very annoyed with how Michael kept pushing her away and she kept coming back. Also how little was expect from Michael to make this work. ( )

This story in book 7 is about Renata Meyer an artist who works in Milwaukee but owns her small family home in Tyler and Michael Youngthunder who is a Winnebago although he lives and works in a white world and feels a lot of guilt that he has left his Indian heritage behind. Michael's grandfather is searching for an old Indian burial ground that he is convinced is near the lodge & Renata's family home.

This is an interesting story of how modern day Indians live and how their older relatives live and the guilt that goes with moving on. There is a love story between Michael & Renata with a lot of misunderstandings about how to make a relationship work between an Indian and a white woman. There is some discussion of the murder at the lodge or at least the family involved is finally talking about their fears with each other. It looks like we will have to wait until book 12 to get that resolved but at least this story started us down a path of talking about the murder. ( )

All of the Native American/White Girl romances I've ever read have been historicals. It's interesting to see that dynamic played out against a modern background. Michael Youngthunder's tribe didn't slaughter Renata's family, nor did they adopt her after her family died leaving her stranded between the east and west coasts. Michael is just a regular guy, struggling with how much his Native heritage influences his modern life; whether he's become too white. Renata is interested in learning more about his fascinating heritage, but Michael's been burned by "white women" before who pretended to care about "the Indian stuff" but pulled back when it became too "intrusive." Renata wants to show him she accepts him for who he is, but Michael is not even sure who that is himself. How these two resolve their differences and honor his heritage is enthralling to read about. Written in 1992, though, the terminology (use of Indian throughout, rather than the more currently accepted term of Native or Native American) is a little bit dated.
Action on the mystery of the Body at the Lake is advanced, but for the first time by describing interactions that took place without either of our main characters present. This is okay for those who've been reading the series all the way through, but someone who just picks up this book independently of the others might become confused.
All together, I found this the best of the series so far, and am still looking forward to the rest of this series. ( )