"An artfully balanced mystery, thriller and coming-of-age story, Louise Erdrich's "The Round House" is the gripping tale of the effects of violence on a family.

Repeating characters from "The Plague of Doves," a Pulitzer finalist in 2009, "The Round House" is a sequel of sorts. Fans may marvel that Erdrich trades her signature use of multiple narrators and interwoven plotlines for a more traditional format in one of her North Dakota novels. Yet she also advances the exploration of her abiding themes, particularly the difference between vengeance and justice. This book stands well on its own while enriching Erdrich's oeuvre.

When Geraldine Coutts, wife of Judge Antone Bazil Coutts, is raped, her 13-year-old son, Joe, who narrates the book, wants justice. But law is complicated, particularly on the reservation. "If there was one law that could be repealed or amended for Indians to this day, that would be Public Law 280." Passed in 1953, this law "gave certain states criminal and civil jurisdiction over Indian lands within their borders." It doesn't help that Geraldine can't remember on which of "three classes of land" -- state, federal or tribal -- she was attacked."

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FICTION: "The Round House," by Louise Erdrich (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 9/30)