Quill, a young Ojibwe mother hears a scream in the woods while she is out running, in training for the Boston Marathon. With help from two of her friends, women who run with her on the Northern Minnesota reservation where they live, Quill investigates the disappearance of two Indigenous women. This is a slow-burn mystery that brings attention to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (#MMIW) crisis in the US and Canada.
[Thanks to Bantam Books and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]

This was such a nice story where I learn a lot about culture and relationships. Trying to figure out the truth can be a hard uphill battle but worth it in the end. I really enjoyed this story and the journey that was taken. I enjoyed the ending and I highly recommend.

I can’t believe I haven’t seen this book around more! I really enjoyed the story and I feel it will open a lot of eye. I feel the subject matter is important.

Quill is a young Native American wife and mother whose training to run the Boston Marathon. She and her family live on the Red Pine Reservation near Duluth MN. While running in the woods a few miles from home , she hears a young woman's ear piercing scream that immediately scares her. When she brings her husband Crow to the area where she heard the scream , all she finds is an earring. Quill then takes matters into her own hands when she uncovers that a young Native American woman has gone missing. She begins to suspect the woman was taken by the white men from mine camps that have popped up in the area to house pipeline workers. Along with her two friends Punk and Gaylin they have gone tired of the kidnapped and trafficked, the missing and murdered Indigenous women who never get the attention the white woman get and are determined to find the truth. When someone else disappears. In her quest to find justice for the women of the reservation, she is confronted with the hard truths of their home and the people who purport to serve them. When will she stop losing neighbors, friends, family? The novel asks searing questions about bystander culture, the reverberations of even one act of crime, and the long-lasting trauma of being invisible.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this read. It was unsettling and harrowing and told such an important story about the need to call attention to missing and murdered Indigenous women. The novel also highlights so many aspects (both positive and negative) of Indigenous culture in Minnesota and life on/near a reservation. Although the protagonist (Quill)'s choices were sometimes a bit extreme, I felt that they added to the stressful nature of the story. I commend the author for this work and look forward to diving into her catalog further!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a readers copy of this title. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.
What a compelling story that calls attention to the issue of murdered and missing indigenous women (MMIW). Thousands of cases have never been solved. The tangled web of police, tribal police, and federal law enforcement makes investigation of these crimes more complicated.
Using fiction, and a woman who refuses to accept women on her reservation going missing, the author creates a narrative that could be happening anywhere across the US and Canada on native lands.

I gave this 3.5 stars.
It was a good read and very interesting story. Native American women are disappearing and it seems that no one cares except for the women living on the reservation. Until one of them goes missing, quill is determined to find her friend.

Quill tries to figure out why women on her reservation keep disappearing. Lots of twists and turns, but a fun ride!

This was a harrowing one. I seek voices like Rendon's, and these are stories that need to be told, but it lost something in the storytelling style for me. The prose is choppy an d

Quill was, perhaps intentionally, hard to really like. I grew up in Minnesota, so it was fun to see references to some familiar places and events (like the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth). BUT that also made the story heavier and more real for me.

I think this would have been a 3.5 star book for me, but it lost me at the way such a heavy story felt tied up with a pretty bow like a movie.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

4.5 stars--This was such a powerful and compelling story that reflects the lived reality of many indigenous people. I was drawn into the story right away with the beautifully descriptive writing and the tension and mystery created. Though I was stressed throughout, and questioned the choices of the main character, I couldn't put it down. This is my first book from this author, and I will definitely be reading more. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for this arc.

Marcie Rendon has written a disturbing but important story that centers on the disappearance of Native American women from a reservation in Minnesota. Quill has lived on the reservation her entire life. She is a runner in training for the Boston Marathon. On one of her runs she hears a scream. By the time she returns to the area with her husband she only finds tracks and an earring. The incident is reported to the tribal police but Quill is dissatisfied by their response. This is not the first woman to go missing and Quill begins to investigate on her own. Quill trains with her friends Punk and Gaylyn. When Punk becomes one of the missing, Quill is even more determined to find out what has happened to these women. She makes some questionable decisions that put both her and Punk in danger.

Rendon’s story addresses the problems of drugs and domestic violence. It is also filled with the culture and traditions of the indigenous population. What Quill discovers is a case of human trafficking to supply entertainment for workers brought to the area by the pipeline. It is heartbreaking to realize the number of women who have disappeared and an important story to tell. With a strong main character and the community’s support, the story moves quickly. Quill is a character that I would love to see more of in the future. I thank NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine for providing this book.

Marcie Rendon’s Where They Last Saw Her is a gripping novel about the MMIW crisis. It follows Quill, a young mother living on the reservation who hears a scream one day when she is out running. No one seems to care that a woman has disappeared, but Quill makes it her mission to solve the crime with the help of her family and friends. Rendon’s novel is fast-paced and tense and I was frequently worried for the safety of Quill and her loved ones. I thought this was a great thriller with a strong social conscience.

However, there were some issues with pacing and info-dumps. I think the book could have benefitted from stronger editing (there were repetitive issues) as well as having her characters pull back from over-explaining their culture and lives to the reader. That said, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others. I am eager to read Rendon’s other series as well.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for a copy of the book.

When Quill hears a woman’s scream when she’s out running, she can’t shake it. She’s haunted by another missing woman, another forgotten indigenous woman whom she refuses to forget.

Where They Last Saw Her is an important story and brings light to such a crucial issue. It’s compelling in so many ways. I wish the editing had been a little tighter to strengthen the writing, and I wish a critical look had been taken at Quill’s choices. They felt too far fetched and became a means to drive the plot, despite understanding some of her desperation, they were really foolish choices that took me out of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam.

This was a miss for me, unfortunately. The content focused on the crisis of MMIWG is important - but the plot itself unraveled quickly and the writing felt targeted towards a younger reader. (Is this YA? I don’t think so?) This was certainly different than the author’s Cash Blackbear series, which is wildly engaging. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance copy. All opinions are entirely my own.

Quill, her husband, Crow, and her two young children are embedded in the culture and community of the Red River reservation in northern Minnesota, although they are more prosperous than most. She is a runner who has her heart set on competing in the Boston Marathon, so she trains heavily on the remote roads and trails of the reservation. One day, when she is out running on a snowy road, she hears a scream. When she and Crow head out to investigate the following day, Quill finds a disturbed area in the snow and a tiny beaded earring. Though she tells the tribal police about the scream and disturbance, they don’t put much effort into investigating. Quill has had enough of the women from the reservation going missing with no consequences and the resulting suspicion and nervousness of the Ojibwe community where she lives, so she takes on the investigation herself.

Throughout the book, Quill makes dangerous choices and engages in behavior that has her husband desperate to stop her from inserting herself into the search for murderers. While Rendon does, in general, a great job of building Quill’s character, Quill’s need to continue the investigation even in the face of danger to herself and her family is hard to believe. Quill’s friends and running buddies are equally well developed, and in some ways make more sense given the reality of the dangers involved. Rendon also includes more traditional Ojibwe women in the story, and it is with these characters that she is able to provide a sense of the interconnectedness of the reservation community.

The reader gets a sense of the long distances traveled by the reservation members just to manage their day-to-day lives. The interdependence of the tribe members as they make those treks and attempt to find safety in numbers is palpable. There are many tough issues dealt with in the book, stretching beyond the central theme of missing indigenous women. Drug addiction, inherent toxic masculinity fostered in all-male work camps, gambling at native casinos…all are sensitively dealt with. There’s a heartfelt connection between the youthful runners and the traditional grandmas from the reservation as they all attempt to make a safe place for native women.

Rendon brings a different perspective to the issue of missing indigenous women than many of the recent novels that have been built around this theme have managed. She brings the perspective of the women themselves into the forefront, especially how this frightening epidemic affects native women’s sense of security in their day to day lives. The story-telling never loses this point of view, which adds power to the plot and the resolution.

I’m not sure if this is the start of a new indigenous series. Rendon’s ongoing Cash Blackbear series is more compelling to me mainly because I find Cash’s character more nuanced and sympathetic. If Rendon decides to continue with Quill in a series, and there is some indication that may happen in the final words of WHERE THEY LAST SAW HER, I have no doubt but that some of my discomfort with Quill’s character will be resolved. Even if this is all that we see of Quill, the book provides an important frame of reference for understanding the dangers faced by indigenous women in the context of a suspenseful story.

Thank you to Marcie R. Rendon, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Bantam, and NetGalley for and eARC of Where They last Saw Her.

I absolutely loved this book. Reading about missing and murdered indigenous women is incredibly eye opening and also heart wrenching. Rendon brought this to life with her writing and is helping to bring awareness to such a devastating situation.

There were definitely beautiful moments in this book. I enjoyed reading about Native American culture and traditions and could also feel the sense of community through the author's words. Quill, Punk, and Gaylyn's friendship and love for one another was a driving force for the story line, but more than that was Quill's determination to not let her friend become a statistic. It was both frustrating and also touching to see Quill putting herself in danger time and time again in order to find and protect her friend and the other women in her community.

It was truly scary to picture the situations these women were put in. After reading this book I had to do my own research and was shocked to learn that as of 2019, nearly 40% of women who experience human trafficking identify as Native American. It is even scarier to think that situations like those in this book are the reality for these women.

I would definitely recommend this book, but would recommend caution to anyone who is sensitive to topics of murder, kidnapping or sexual assault.

4/5 stars.

🍁WHERE THEY LAST SAW HER by @marcierendon 🍁

Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publisher @randomhouse for the e-ARC.

While training for the Boston Marathon on her Northern Minnesota reservation in the winter, Quill is running on a trail and hears a woman scream deep in the woods. When word comes the next day that a local woman is missing, Quill knows it is not a coincidence. Ever since the oil men from the Dakotas and other midwest areas came to town, indigenous women have been disappearing...

⭐⭐⭐

I was both dazzled and afraid for the character of Quill. Her moral compass is wildly sound but her impulsivity makes those around her think she is reckless and out of control. Still, they stick with her knowing that she is on the right track. Thrilling and harrowing. There was also lots of Ojibwe culture mixed in including the story of the origin of the jingle dress. The depiction of female friendship in this novel made me that much more invested.

This story is incredibly timely and timeless at the same time. Women, and especially indigenous women, have been a target for predators and the alarm and backlash never feel strong enough to fit the crimes. This book features a character that will stop at nothing, even her own safety, to find the truth. This book does a great job of showing how continual, generational trauma mixed with constant devaluing and uncertainty can have an effect not only on individuals but also communities. If you need a book that covers heavy topics with perseverance, truth and community-minded solutions, this one is for you.

Wow! This book took me a while to get through even though I loved it. It's sad and the subject is painful but so important. It's the story of a Native American woman named Quill who finds evidence that a woman from her community has been taken and she can't stop thinking about it or stop herself from taking steps to solve the mystery, even if it puts herself in danger. Although this is a work of fiction, there are too many indigenous women who have gone missing - and not enough people who are aware of it. The stories of these women are important, and so is this novel.

One day it's a stranger. The next time it's a friend. The people of Red Pine Reservation all have heard the stories of women gone missing, but it becomes personal to Quill when she hears a woman scream while out on her daily run. No one knows who she was. No one knows why she screamed. She's gone with only a beaded earring as proof she was ever there.

As soon as I started reading the digital ARC for this gripping thriller/mystery, I knew I wanted a physical copy for my home library. Where They Last Saw Her is a story of empowerment, community, and friendship.

Addressing an tragedy affecting Indigenous communities, Marcie R. Rendon tells the story of one woman who has had enough. Quill has decided to stop being a bystander and to do all she can to find the missing women from her Minnesota reservation. Although I did not agree with all of Quill's choices, I admired her strength and perseverance. What else can you do when you feel unseen and unheard, and like no one else is helping?

Read this if you like:
- Strong women
- Diverse stories
- Strong female friendships
- Thrillers and mysteries

3.25

I fell in love with Rendon's Cash Blackbear series a few years ago (and recently discovered a new entry is coming next year!) so I was excited to see a new release from an author I have loved. This had a lot of the same elements that I've loved in her other series, but I think it needed just a little bit more development for me to love it the way I expected.

Quill is such a fascinating character. She has lived on the Red Pine reservation her whole life and she is generally happy with her life. She has a husband who loves her and two children and she regularly runs with two of her friends while they train for the Boston Marathon. But then one day on a run, Quill hears a woman scream in the woods and she can't let it go.

I think what this book does best is comment on bystander culture. It would be so easy for Quill to leave well enough alone after she reports the scream, but she is tired of the "see something say nothing" mentality that allows her people to continue to fall through the cracks. Does she make some questionable decisions throughout this story? Absolutely. But I think it all made sense in the way Rendon built up the character. Where I think this book falls a little flat is in the tying together of some of the threads with smaller moments. I found the book to be quick and compulsively readable but at the same time some of the leaps from plot point to plot point felt a little jarring because Rendon tried to pack so much into a relatively short book.

This tackles so many important topics that face native peoples today, from drugs on reservations to the lack of resources given to tribal police, to the ongoing crisis that the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement tries to shed light on, so despite some of my critiques I still highly recommend picking this up, and while you're at it maybe give Murder on the Red River a chance too!

If you see something, say something…

Quill is raising her two children with her husband Crow on Minnesota’s Red Pine reservation. Besides her family, her main passion is running solo or with her friends. When women start going missing in their area, simple things like going for a run in the woods become hazardous activities. But Quill is tired of the general attitude on the reservation that things just happen & you keep going. She starts her own informal investigation when the authorities come up with nothing, and despite the risk to herself she gets drawn in deeper & deeper in her quest for justice, & for CHANGE…

There are so many layers to this book, including but not limited to: the generational trauma that Native Americans face, issues with substance abuse (& how the halfway houses can be problematic), domestic violence, the pros & cons of casinos, the Land Back movement, therapy, & the MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) hashtag to raise awareness. This was not an easy book to read, but it was an important one that gave me much to think about.

Thank you very much to NetGalley & Bantam for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.