Mask Of The Deer Woman, Laurie L. Dove (Review by Stacey Lorenson)

Rating: 4.0/5 Stars

Mask of the Deer Woman is a haunting, suspenseful, and informative novel immersed in Native American mythology.Much of this novel focuses on the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women. Dove exposes readers to this crisis, the complicated labyrinth of local, federal and state laws that do much to hamper these investigations, along withsystemic racism.

Detective Carrie Starr has been reassigned from Chicago PD to serve as tribal marshal on a reservation in Oklahoma where her father was raised. The former detective arrives at her new job, less than enthusiastic, never quite sober, fighting fresh demons from her past. Her first day involves responding to a missing persons report from a frantic mother that insists her daughter is a part of the growing disappearances of women from the reservation. Still grieving the loss of her murdered teenage daughter, Starr delves into the investigation. What begins as a missing person’s report evolves into fraud, serial murder, political misdeeds and a quest to return a child to her mother, alive.

What made this story particularly interesting, aside from the gripping plot, was the protagonist, Carrie Starr. The detectivewas as tragic and misguided as some of the people she wasinvestigating. Dove created an anti-heroine that I rooted for throughout the novel!  I can’t wait for the next installment of Carrie Starr’s personal and professional journey!  Mask Of The Deer Woman is a must read!