B.L. Blanchard Books In Order

Publication Order of The Good Lands Books

B. L Blanchard is a mystery author of The Peacekeeper novel. She’s originally from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan but has lived in California for the longest time. She graduated from Boston University School of Law in the UC Davis creative writing honors program.

Blanchard is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and a lawyer.
The Peace Keeper
The Peace Keeper is the debut in the Good Lands series. The story follows Chibenashi, who is a peacekeeper in his small town. It’s about 20 years since his mother was killed, and his father confessed to having committed the crime.

From that day, he started taking care of his younger sister, Ashwiyaa, who needed undivided attention from him. Another woman is killed the same night Chibenashi’s mother was killed during the Manoomin night. The victim happens to be his mother’s best friend, taking him to a path he had no plans to revisit and to a world he has ever known.

This second murder leaves him no option but to travel to Shikaakwaa to investigate, as it’s the home of the recent victim’s estranged family. It’s also where his imprisoned father is and the lover who broke his heart.

Soon he begins discovering the truth concerning the recent murder and finds some information about himself and his past life. As questions pile up, the answers he gets will change his life and that of his sister forever after realizing all this time he has been living a lie.

Chibenashi is one of the three peacekeepers in the village. On the night of Manoomin, a party celebrating the harvest, someone kills Chibenashi’s mother’s close friend. He’s to look for answers from the metropolis in Shikaakwa while looking after her sister.

Her mother’s friend meant so much to him and was like an aunt to him. Since the death of their mother two decades ago, the aunt has always been there for Chibenachi and his sister whenever there was a need. Might his mother’s and ‘aunt’s’ death be connected in any way?

He is not used to the city so much and isn’t prepared to confront the ghosts from his past; an ex-girlfriend turned into an advocate and the estranged son of the victim.

In a strange environment and pressured by one of Shikaakwa’s peacekeepers who irritates him, Chibenashi’s patience gets tested. He never crosses the line or gives up, even at his lowest point. After the crime has faded, the time has passed since the trauma happened, so Chibenashi has no left defences to keep his demons as a barrier to moving on.

He’s experiencing life but doesn’t move forward in any aspect. However, when a murder is reported during one of the respected holidays of the community, resembling a similar incident that occurred two decades ago, events bring Chibenashi face to face with people and events from his past. This forces him to rethink everything that he has lived to believe.

He leaves Ashwiyaa in the care of their neighbors and embarks on a journey to Shikaakwa not only to protect the chain of evidence but also to look for answers from the people who were there twenty years ago and who doubt might know something about the deaths.

The big city gives him a lot of tension even before he confronts not only his father, who he has avoided for two decades, but also a lover who left him. Can Chibenashi overcome his prejudices and fears and look for the heartbreaking truth?

On the backdrop of a never-colonized North America, a broken Ojibwe detective goes on an emotional journey to solve two murders, find himself and rediscover his family.

North America has never been colonized, and the United States and Canada don’t exist. The novel is set in an uncolonized North America, describing various parts of Europe, Aztec, the Islamic Empire and Mayan. In North America, government and society are unique and different from others; the DAs and prosecutors are gone.
Instead, some mediators represent both parties and imprisoning someone for a crime is not expected since they opt to rehabilitate the lawbreakers by offering restitution to the victims involved.

The author moves from describing the living skyscrapers to discussing the societal and criminal justice system differences. She handles Chibenashi’s depression, guilt and resolution so well to make a satisfying mystery and excellent work of science fiction.

Blanchard does a superb job of creating a flawed protagonist, making the story more realistic and believable. He doesn’t socialize much since he’s trying to take care of his sister, and this responsibility has blocked him from expanding his social circle or focusing on something else.

Throughout the mystery, Blanchard asks fascinating questions about people’s obligations to their kin. How far can one go to keep their child, parent or sibling safe?
The most outstanding element about the Peacekeeper story is the world-building which was so well done. The world created by the author parallels the modern one as there are cellphones, movies, guns, and tablets, yet they’re so much different. The justice system is restorative instead of punitive, and settlements try to coexist with the natural world.

Despite colonization never happening, the nation where Chibenashi lives is not a paradise due to the crimes happening. The novel features an incident of domestic abuse, violence and stalking that doesn’t end up so well. Chibenashi has had a tough childhood full of loss and a sister to care for, but he manages to keep going.

Using Takumwah, Blanchard shows how the conflict between nations and issues of discrimination and assimilation are still possible in uncolonized worlds. She proves how humans are flawed creatures capable of getting into the darkness no matter who they are, what societies they build and where they live.

The Peacekeeper is a story about a man with fragile and weak relationships. It’s a murder mystery that hides the tragic truth at its core, leaving the reader with a testament to imagine different. It’s so impressive that Blanchard uses characters’ situations and personalities to bring out the differences to light.

Readers interested in slow-burn mysteries with a unique alternating historical backdrop, the Peacekeepers is your book. There are lots of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing what will happen next.