Death in the Tallgrass

Rogers, Andrea L. Death in the Tallgrass
September 15, 2026 by Levine Querido

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In the summer of 1968, Cynthia and her family are spending the summer with her father's parents, whom they have never seen because a fight their father had with his own father. The change from Dallas to Snake, Oklahoma is stark, and dealing with the strict and unapproving grandfather has Cynthia walking gingerly and doing a lot of work around the farm. Her older sister Diane is busy hanging out with teens in town, especially Will, and her younger sister Wren is not expected to do as much, although she does see the chickens as pets and cares for them. The parents are fighting, and trying to figure out how to get the family moved to Tulsa in time for the father to start a new job, although the mother's health is an issue as well. Cynthia is interested in her family's Cherokee heritage, but no one wants to talk much about it. She also gets drawn into a historical mystery when she finds a bracelet and journal belonging to a young girl, Violet, who died under suspicious circumstances in the 1920s. As the summer progresses, tensions rise, and Cynthia and her family must figure out their next moves. 

Strengths: This is a good look at life in the late 1960s; there's a lot of unrest among the teenagers, and a lot of tension between generations. Cynthia's attitude is one that modern children might find new, because she doesn't complain about the work on the farm. She knows that doing it will make her grandfather less volatile, so takes it up on herself, even though her sisters slack a bit. I loved that she was reading Snyder's 1965 The Velvet Room. I loved that book! Nothing like reader about the desperate plight of families in the Great Depression to make one think that taking care of the chickens isn't that hard. There is a good bit of Cherokee history included, especially in interludes between chapters. 
Weaknesses: The title of this led me to believe that this would be a murder mystery (which my students crave!), and it is, but it moves very slowly and has little information about the "death in the Tallgrass".

What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want historical fiction that includes Native Amerrican culture and reconnecting with grandparents, like Johnson's The Blossoming Summer or Sneve and Littlebird's The Summer of the Bone Horses.