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To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself. At rock bottom following her daughter’s murder, ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr’s father never talked much about the reservation that raised him, but they need a new tribal marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home. In the last decade, too many young women have disappeared from the rez. Some dead, others just… gone. Now, local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter—the girl she failed to save. Starr feels lost in this place she thought would welcome her. And when she catches a glimpse of a figure from her father’s stories, with the body of a woman and the antlers of a deer, Starr can’t shake the feeling that the fearsome spirit is watching her, following her. What she doesn’t know is whether Deer Woman is here to guide her or to seek vengeance for the lost daughters that Starr can never bring home.
Publication Year: 2025
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0~~Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC!~~
I have only learned what the Deer Woman was just recently, and when I saw that this book was taking the myth and centering it around missing Indigenous women, I put this on my to-read right then and there.
Sadly, this book did not live to that hype.
The pacing is slower than a snail's, and it's due to there being POVs from multiple side characters and Starr's ability to properly function as a good detective. I believe the other POVs were provided in order to give more depth to the mystery, but it felt disjointed, clunky, and it ruined the reveal of the villain because it made it so obvious. Plus, Starr could have found a lot of this stuff out on her own if she was more abrasive and focused, but due to her alcoholism, smoking, grief, and self-hatred of her mixed Native identity, she's not giving the proper attention to the case until the last third or so of the book. It also doesn't help that the other side characters keep telling her that her detective skills suck. Granted, they don't know what she's going through, but I have to agree that she was not the right person for this job.
The Deer Woman didn't play a huge role, either. She kept haunting Starr both in a literal and metaphorical sense. The story did give us cool lore about her that connected to the larger theme of the missing Indigenous women, but I feel like she could have been more of a physical presence, like the righteous monster she is and represents.
One thing I did give this book was the attention Dove gave to the issues surrounding missing Indigenous women in the narrative. Showing a perspective from a Native woman who was a cop provided some interesting takes, too, though I wish it went further in depth than what was shown.
All in all, this story had so much good potential, but it was mostly lost due to the lack of focus. I do hope Dove's writing improves, but I dunno if I'll read whatever she may come out with next.
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