Sacred Waters: A Driftless Rivers Mystery

Comprehensive Summary

THE SERIES CONTEXT

Sacred Waters is the first book in the Driftless Rivers Mystery Series, set in 2032 in the Driftless Area of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. The series is built around the Driftless Rivers Membership Co-operative, a network of hostels, equestrian facilities, and cultural centers developed through an unprecedented coalition of political, religious, tribal, and community interests. Each book in the series features mysteries connected to the hostels and their surrounding recreational and cultural landscapes.

THE WORLD

The novel is set against the backdrop of two transformative developments:

The Driftless Rivers National Park — established through a four-state political coalition in 2026, protecting the Mississippi River and all major tributaries from Winona, MN to Thomson, IL.

The Driftless Rivers Express — an Amtrak auto and horse train service connecting the Twin Cities to the Quad Cities, with future expansion planned through Memphis to New Orleans by 2035.

The hostel network serves outdoor enthusiasts, equestrians, historians, and cultural travelers through a membership co-operative modeled on Amazon Prime. Each hostel features a signature venue called the "Rogues, Rebels, and Unsung Heroes Lounge" celebrating overlooked historical figures and countercultural movements unique to each location.

THE POLITICAL BACKSTORY

The political transformation that made the Driftless Rivers project possible is central to the novel's world-building:

The Driftless Rivers Coalition — a non-partisan political movement developed in 2026 that fielded coordinated Republican and Democratic primary challengers who campaigned as pairs. The silent pact between candidates — whoever lost their primary would throw 100% support behind the winner — effectively neutralized partisan extremists in both parties and overcame gerrymandering that had previously made meaningful electoral challenges impossible.

The Catalyst — On February 15, 2026, Senators William Harrison (Wisconsin) and Robert Fitzgerald (Iowa) died in a plane crash at Dubuque Regional Airport, creating simultaneous Senate vacancies that opened the door for coalition candidates Senator Patricia Chen (D-Wisconsin) and Senator James Kowalski (R-Iowa) to win their respective races.

The Results — In six years, all four Driftless Area states replaced partisan extremists with coalition-backed representatives. Christian nationalist congregations were marginalized from positions of influence in state government and school districts. Rural voters who had been manipulated by conservative radio propaganda gradually shifted toward representatives who delivered concrete results rather than culture war rhetoric.

THE FLAGSHIP FACILITY

The Driftless Rivers Cultural Center, Galena, Illinois — a unified development spanning four adjacent lots on South Bench Street:

  • 205 South Bench Street — Non-historic 1970s Methodist parsonage (demolished for underground parking garage)

  • Vacant Lot — Former St. Michael Catholic Church parking lot (incorporated into garage footprint)

  • 211 South Bench Street — The Barrow Mansion (restored from old museum to original 1850s Italianate grandeur; main exhibition space and administrative headquarters)

  • 227 South Bench Street — St. Michael Catholic Church (Gothic Revival; preserved for Sunday services but converted to 300-capacity convention and event venue with removable seating)

  • Grant's Church — Galena United Methodist Church sanctuary (preserved for Sunday services; converted to intimate wedding venue and concert hall, anchored by the last fully-functional Moline pipe organ in existence)

Innovative Architecture:

  • Two-level underground parking garage invisible from historic streetscape

  • Hostel rooms built into the limestone bluff behind historic structures

  • Rogues, Rebels, and Unsung Heroes Lounge carved directly into the four-story solid rock back wall

  • Green roof parking garage connecting to terraced gardens leading up to the Osprey House at 206 South Prospect Street

  • New construction built into the bluff behind the Barrow Mansion and St. Michael's providing additional floors of hostel accommodation

Pre-Columbian Discovery — During renovation of the Barrow Mansion basement, workers discover a stone-lined ceremonial chamber predating the 1850s construction by millennia, containing artifacts suggesting the site was a significant indigenous gathering place used by multiple nations for trade and ceremony.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Mickey Manning (age 69) — CEO of the Driftless Rivers Membership Co-op. Former Associate Director of DEI Programs at Florida Atlantic University. Forced out of Florida by DeSantis-era politics. Pragmatic problem-solver, organizational visionary. Descended from freed slaves who moved to rural Indiana before the Civil War. Married to Lester since 2009 (Greenwich, Connecticut).

Lester Brandt (age 65) — Director of Programming, Driftless Rivers Cultural Center. Former US History teacher in Broward County, Florida. Seventh-generation Mormon descended from Puritans who arrived in Boston Harbor in 1659. Forced out of teaching by CRT accusations, later pushed from grant-funded Iowa position for working with Gay-Straight Alliance clubs. Organist for Galena United Methodist Church. Married to Mickey since 2009.

Diana Castillo (age 53) — Former FBI Field Office Director, now cultural heritage security consultant. Silver-streaked black hair, military posture, methodical investigator. Married to Kate since 2009 (Dubuque, Iowa — among first same-sex marriages in the state). Owns bay Quarter Horse named Maverick.

Kate Reeves (age 51) — Environmental scientist specializing in geological survey work. Cropped auburn hair, athletic. Grandmother was Fox tribal member. Dual expertise in Western science and indigenous knowledge systems. Married to Diana since 2009. Owns dapple gray Andalusian named Athena.

Amara Woods — Mickey's assistant and chief data analyst. Descendant of the Fox tribe.

Carson Jeffries — Senior trail guide, seventh-generation Driftless Area local.

Elena Ruiz — Project architect specializing in sustainable adaptive reuse.

Margaret Stillwater — Sac and Fox tribal elder. Spiritual wisdom and strategic vision. Orchestrates key collaborations. Has a nephew named Robert who handles documentation and technology.

SUPPORTING AND SECONDARY CHARACTERS

Tribal Representatives:

  • Dr. James WhiteEagle — Ho-Chunk Tribal Historic Preservation Officer

  • Anna FireKeeper — Potawatomi cultural reclamation specialist

  • Michael GichigamiKwe — Ojibwe water protector

Political Figures:

  • Senator Patricia Chen (D-Wisconsin)

  • Senator James Kowalski (R-Iowa)

  • Governors Morrison (Minnesota), Anderson (Wisconsin), Martinez (Iowa)

Sheriff Dana Martinez — Jo Daviess County Sheriff; 20 years with Chicago PD specializing in art and antiquities theft.

Dr. Vivian Mercer — Historical consultant who helped develop interpretive materials for Driftless Rivers facilities.

Congressman Davis — Longtime supporter of the Driftless Rivers initiative.

THE ANTAGONISTS

Pastor William Thorne (mid-40s) — Leader of New Covenant Fellowship, a fast-growing Christian nationalist congregation in western Dubuque, Iowa. Arrived from Tennessee, holds advanced degrees in theology and communications. Sophisticated, articulate, frames hatred as spiritual duty. Has written a 17-page terrorist manifesto targeting Driftless Rivers facilities during Indigenous Heritage Month.

Vanessa Caldwell — Antiquities expert and authenticator for private collectors with questionable acquisition practices. Previously involved in Meskwaki settlement repatriation dispute. Connects Whitehall to Reyes.

Victor Reyes — Disgraced archaeologist, formerly respected field professional. Previously suspended for Mesa Verde incident. Now operates in the gray market providing acquisition services for wealthy private collectors. May be an unwitting fall guy rather than primary orchestrator.

Dominic Whitehall — Tech billionaire turned private antiquities collector who specifically targets items with indigenous spiritual significance. Operates a private hunting lodge near Dubuque, Iowa with sophisticated security. Uses a springhouse for temporary artifact storage.

THE NEW COVENANT FELLOWSHIP SUBPLOT

New Covenant Fellowship represents a deliberately planted red herring and future series threat:

  • Pre-fabricated steel building in western Dubuque suburbs

  • Historically connected to cross-burning incidents when Dubuque's mayor promoted diversity

  • Congregation home-schools children using curricula promoting Manifest Destiny as divine plan

  • Systematically reports undocumented Latino workers and Marshall Islander immigrants to authorities

  • Conducts "spiritual reclamation" activities at indigenous sacred sites

  • Maintains detailed files on the Driftless Rivers project and its leaders

  • Plans "educational counter-programming" for Indigenous Heritage Month

  • Coordinates with similar organizations across multiple states

  • Provides alibi for David Chen's murder — confirmed at Effigy Mounds during time of death

JORDAN THORNE (age 17, they/them pronouns)

Pastor Thorne's child. The novel's most complex emerging character and future series protagonist:

Current Situation:

  • Experiences gender dysphoria in a deeply restrictive religious environment

  • Home-schooled within New Covenant Fellowship's ideological framework

  • Secretly explores identity questions online, discovering Jules and Rio's content

  • Discovers father's terrorist manifesto and sends anonymous warning

  • Signs warning: "Someone Who Believes Violence Is Never God's Will"

Family Backstory — Glenn's Story: Jordan's great-grandfather on their mother's side is Glenn Peterson (1947-2032):

  • Born Mormon, served mission in French-speaking Belgium (1966-1968)

  • Met gay flight attendant Marcus on flight home; they maintained secret relationship for seven years

  • Underwent electroshock aversion therapy at BYU in 1976 to "cure" homosexuality

  • Lost Marcus — the love of his life — when he chose therapy over authentic relationship

  • Married a woman in 1978, had two children (including Jordan's grandmother Ruth)

  • Turned to alcoholism by 1985 to self-medicate

  • Divorced when Ruth was starting school; ex-wife left church shortly after

  • Eventually found partner David Sutherland — together 30+ years

  • Residential detox in 2016 (arranged by Ruth and David) — achieved sobriety

  • Traveled the world with David 2016-2021 including return to Belgium

  • Broke ankle the night of 2016 election; cascade of health issues followed

  • Became mostly bedridden, resumed self-medicating

  • Died 2032 of alcoholism-related health issues

  • Career: Became pipe organ specialist, maintained the last fully-functional Moline pipe organ at Grant's Church in Galena for 40 years

  • Legacy: Left pipe organ tools and a letter to any young family member struggling with identity

The Nine of '92 Connection: Jordan's grandmother Ruth was pregnant with Jordan's mother in 1992 when the Mormon Church under Prophet Ezra Taft Benson excommunicated nine academics and advocates for suggesting leniency toward women and LGBTQ members. The novel refers to this as the "Nine of '92" (the real-world "September Six" plus three additional December excommunications). This was Ruth's definitive break from the Mormon Church, made while pregnant with Jordan's mother.

The Hidden Connection: Nobody in New Covenant Fellowship knows that Glenn Peterson — known throughout the region only as the pipe organ specialist — was Jordan's great-grandfather, or that Pastor Thorne's family history includes a gay Mormon ancestor who was subjected to conversion therapy.

THE MYSTERY PLOT

The Victim: David Chen — doctoral candidate in cultural anthropology at Northwestern University, researching industrial heritage and its intersection with indigenous histories. Found dead near the Winston Tunnel entrance after turkey vultures alert a trail riding group. Death initially appears to be a fall from the bluff above the tunnel entrance.

The Winston Tunnel: Completed 1888 for the Chicago Great Western Railway. Abandoned 1971. Part of the Driftless Rivers National Park but not yet open to public. During original construction, Fox tribal workers concealed a sacred bundle within the tunnel structure to protect ceremonial items from permanent loss.

The Sacred Bundle: Far more than cultural artifacts — the bundle is one of several placed throughout the Driftless Area as part of the Four Nations Accord, a historical agreement between Ho-Chunk, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Sac and Fox nations for cooperative stewardship of the region. The bundle contains four items, one from each nation:

  • Ho-Chunk: Carved wooden water drum amplifying underground water movements

  • Potawatomi: Medicine pouch with plants responding to water chemistry changes

  • Ojibwe: Copper vessel for ceremonial water offerings influencing precipitation

  • Sac and Fox: Stone tablet with carved river maps showing correct flow patterns

Together they form a sophisticated hydrological monitoring and communication system. Removal destabilizes the tunnel's water management and threatens structural collapse.

The Investigation Timeline:

  1. Trail riding group spots turkey vultures near Winston Tunnel

  2. Carson Jeffries discovers body; Sheriff Martinez responds

  3. Victim identified as David Chen; death ruled suspicious

  4. Chen's camera contains photos of unauthorized excavation inside tunnel

  5. New Covenant Fellowship investigated as potential suspect — red herring

  6. Security footage identifies Victor Reyes and Meridian Archaeological Services

  7. Vanessa Caldwell identified as authenticator connecting Reyes to buyer

  8. Dominic Whitehall identified as buyer; sacred bundle held at his Iowa hunting lodge

  9. Legal injunction from Dubuque County judge creates urgency

  10. Diana and Lester conduct horseback reconnaissance from Eagle Point overlook

  11. Team plans unofficial recovery operation using complementary skills

  12. Bundle recovered from Whitehall's springhouse before transfer to buyer

  13. Caldwell turns on Whitehall in exchange for leniency

  14. Bundle properly reinstated by four nations' representatives; tunnel stabilizes

The Murder Resolution: David Chen's death is determined to be a complex intersection of Caldwell's criminal operation and the spiritual disruption caused by improper handling of the sacred bundle. Caldwell faces NAGPRA violations and accessory charges. Whitehall faces federal investigation. Reyes cooperates with tribal preservation teams, having been used as an unwitting fall guy.

THE PRAIRIE DU CHIEN SUBPLOT

A two-day equestrian journey by Mickey, Lester, Diana, and Kate along the Mississippi River Trail leads to Prairie du Chien, where:

  • Stone tablet markings reveal a second sacred bundle site near the Wisconsin-Mississippi confluence

  • Historical significance established: June 17, 1673 — Marquette and Jolliet enter upper Mississippi

  • Prairie of the Dog — named for Fox chief

  • Effigy Mounds National Monument and Pikes Peak State Park provide geographical anchors

  • Caldwell discovered conducting unauthorized excavation at second site

  • Team uses DNR environmental regulations and creative delay tactics to stop her

  • Second bundle secured through jurisdictional cooperation

The Next Driftless Rivers Hostel: The Prairie du Chien development site is established as the network's most ambitious project — a bluff-top facility overlooking both rivers, incorporating an 1880s lumber baron's estate, accommodating 120 guests, with the most extensive workforce housing component built to date.

NEW CHARACTERS FOR FUTURE BOOKS

Jules Beaulieu-Santos (they/them, early 30s) — Mixed-race Cajun and Uruguayan social media star with nearly 20 million followers. Posts in English, Spanish, French, and Cajun Creole. Background in sustainable tourism development. Married to Rio.

Rio Beaulieu-Santos (he/him, early 30s) — Mixed-race Cajun and Uruguayan social media star. Background in cultural anthropology. Documenting "Confluence: Where Rivers and Cultures Meet" series. Passionate about connecting New Orleans culture to Driftless Area through planned Amtrak expansion.

Jordan Thorne — Future series protagonist. Meets Jules and Rio face-to-face in Prairie du Chien after traveling by bus from Dubuque. Reveals identity as Pastor Thorne's child and source of anonymous warning. Placed in LGBTQ+ youth crisis safe house with Jules and Rio's support.

MAJOR THEMES

  1. Confluence — rivers, cultures, knowledge systems, past and present merging

  2. Sacred Waters — environmental management as spiritual technology; water as communicator

  3. Authenticity — personal identity, historical truth, cultural integrity

  4. Political Transformation — coalition-building, cooperation over partisan conflict

  5. Found Family — chosen community replacing or supplementing biological family

  6. Historical Reckoning — acknowledging full complexity of American history

  7. Resistance and Creation — building alternatives when institutions fail

  8. Intergenerational Trauma — patterns of oppression repeating across generations

  9. Indigenous Knowledge — traditional ecological wisdom as sophisticated science

  10. The Cost of Conformity — Glenn's story as cautionary tale about denying authentic self

TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Sacred Waters: A Driftless Rivers Mystery Confluence and Consequence

SERIES POTENTIAL

Seeds planted for future mysteries include:

  • Pastor Thorne's terrorist manifesto still active

  • New Covenant Fellowship's planned Indigenous Heritage Month disruption

  • Jordan's ongoing journey toward authentic identity

  • Other sacred bundle sites throughout Driftless Area potentially vulnerable

  • Jules and Rio's expanding media presence connecting New Orleans to the Driftless

  • Diana and Kate potentially relocating to become permanent Driftless Rivers partners

  • The Prairie du Chien development as setting for next book

  • Glenn's hidden connection to Pastor Thorne's family yet to be fully revealed

Sacred Waters establishes a richly layered world where murder mystery, indigenous cultural preservation, political transformation, personal identity, and environmental stewardship flow together like the rivers that define the Driftless landscape — each current distinct, yet inseparable from the whole.