Book Review: Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove
Rating: ★★☆☆☆


The story follows Carrie Starr, a former Chicago detective reeling from the loss of her daughter, who returns to her roots as a tribal marshal. Tasked with investigating the disappearance of a local college student, Starr is drawn into a case that echoes her own grief. Along the way, she encounters the mythic Deer Woman—a figure from her father’s stories—whose presence adds a supernatural layer to the narrative.

While the premise is compelling and the themes are timely, I struggled with the portrayal of the main character. Carrie is deeply flawed, which can make for a powerful protagonist, but here she often comes across as abrasive and emotionally inaccessible. Her internal struggles are understandable, but they’re not always portrayed in a way that invites empathy.

More troubling, though, is the book’s handling of Indigenous culture. The story leans heavily on stereotypes and spiritual tropes, and knowing that the author is white—despite claiming Indigenous heritage—makes the representation feel uncomfortable and, at times, exploitative. It’s hard not to feel that this story would have been more authentic and respectful in the hands of an Indigenous author.

In the end, Mask of the Deer Woman had potential, but I found myself wishing for a narrative that centered Indigenous voices more thoughtfully and respectfully.

Mask of the Deer Woman is a powerful and evocative mystery that seamlessly blends elements of crime fiction with Indigenous folklore. Carrie Starr is a compelling protagonist, her personal struggles and determination adding depth to the narrative. The novel's exploration of the real-world crisis of missing Indigenous women is both poignant and enlightening, shedding light on an often-overlooked issue. Dove's writing is atmospheric, drawing readers into the setting and immersing them in the story's emotional and suspenseful journey.

MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN was a powerful message about how law enforcement often overlooks missing and murder cases of Indigenous women (and brown and black individuals) vs. their white counterparts in both the investigation stages and the media. It gives a voice to the many real cases in the country that never get the same spotlight treatment as other cases do and it was an insanely moving debut novel. I loved how it layered Indigenous culture and traditions throughout the story while also highlighting real issues seen within reservations, like mental health, drugs and alcohol addiction. This story was highly visual and atmospheric and it was compelling from start to finish. It's perfect for readers who enjoy mystery, suspense and heartfelt layered stories with a touch of magical realism and a dash of small town drama. Thanks so much @BerkleyPub for the digital book copy access. Laurie Dove is a powerful voice in the reading world and I can't wait to read more stories by them in the future.

Complex. Tragic. An important story and worthy of your time. Really hoping this is the start of a series.
Starr returns to her father's people, little experience and memories of her family and people.
A mother desperate to find her missing daughter. A young woman desperate to save her land. And a daughterless mother trying to get through a day.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I struggled a lot with this one. It took me almost three months to get through. I started with the ARC, but there were some issues with that (editing errors), so I waited until the book was published to finish it. I did read a lot of books while attempting this one, as those caught my interest more. The biggest problem I had with this book was Starr. She was a <em>very</em> unlikeable character, even though I know the author was trying to garner sympathy due to the loss of Starr's child. It didn't work for me. Starr made a <em>lot</em> of dumb decisions (like driving while intoxicated) that I could have any sympathy or empathy for. I found myself more and more irritated by her character. I think the best part was about a three-fourths of the way through. The action and mystery really ramped up, and I found myself flying through the book. But I absolutely despised the last page, so Dove lost me there. I'm sad it wasn't more to my liking. I really like the idea of Deer Woman, but I don't think this book was executed as well as it could have been.

An intriguing procedural that didn't rely too heavily on the supernatural for my tastes. (I was a bit nervous when I started the book, but I think the supernatural elements were done well.)

A story of missing indigenous women. A story of culture, of grief, and of finding yourself. This debut novel is a detective story set on a reservation with a missing girl and a new marshal who doesn’t quite fit in; it is also a weaving of a tale about a spirit, Deer Woman, who may of not be a curse to those who see her. The storytelling was slow at times, introducing other characters’ perspectives, but ultimately, the mystery was engaging and the ending satisfactory. Mystery lovers will enjoy this new author.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this title from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

✨ Review ✨ Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove; Narrated by Isabella Star Lablanc

Thanks to Berkley, PRHAudio, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

🎧 Isabella Star Lablanc (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota) absolutely made this audiobook come alive for me. Her emotional range made me feel really invested in this story, enriching my experience reading this book. It's a must listen!

Carrie Starr returns to the rez where her dad is from, after spending most of her life in Chicago. She's hired as the new tribal marshall, quickly responsible for a new missing woman case when Chenoa Cloud disappears. As she investigates this missing woman, she finds a history of women going missing along with contemporary battles over opening up the rez to fracking. As she tries to reengage with her roots in the rez, she learns a lot about rez culture and issues, as well as her own history.

Carrie Starr was really hard to relate to at first, but she grew on me...I glad I gave her the time to evolve. Sometimes the tension of Starr's distance from the rez was uncomfortable, and I appreciate how the author used her own experiences growing up as Indigenous in a non-Indigenous family to work through this experience.

Things I loved:
-another great book featuring this important issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women, and focus on women's issues more generally
-the amazing narration
-a police-mystery that also shows the limitations of the policing system, jurisdictions, and the rez

Things I wished:
-the ending felt a bit abrupt and could have been drawn out more
-the horror / tradition component around deer woman was excellent, and I wished for even more of this
-I wanted more bug research lol

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: mystery/thriller
Setting: a remote rez in Oklahoma
Length: 9 hours 37 minutes
Reminds me of: Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie Rendon, Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie
Pub Date: Jan 21 2025

Read this if you like:
⭕️ Indigenous writers
⭕️ mysteries featuring MMIW
⭕️ a little bit of magical realism/horror

Probably what I enjoyed most about this one was the strong atmosphere. From near the beginning, Starr has moments when she's not quite sure if she should believe what she's seeing, and these flashes always come at the perfect time to increase tension. The inclusion of the magical realism and folklore added much to this work. The story is told from several POVs, which helps to create a well-rounded picture of what's going on, but Starr's POV was certainly the strongest. I enjoyed the characters and how strongly they were written. Starr does have an issue with alcohol abuse, which isn't my favorite trope, but did make sense with her past.

It was pretty easy to guess who the culprit was earlier than I hoped to. I also didn't really care for the solution to the mystery. It felt a little cheap/cheesy/copout (those aren't the right words, but I can't find the right way to put it) to go that route for a story that otherwise had such strong depth and heavy themes. This is a slow burn mystery that spends a lot of time getting to know the characters and following clues before anything much begins to happen.

I did quite like this one, and I loved having an older protagonist to explore the themes of grief, loss, community, poverty, and more. Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Mask of the Deer Woman follows Carrie Starr, an alcoholic, indigenous LEO who moves to the rez as their BIA Marshall.
As far as Carrie knows she has never had anything to do with the rez, but she has heard stories from her (now dead) father about both his childhood there and some indigenous traditions and folklore.

Carrie's daughter was murdered and a string of subsequent events led to her losing her job and taking the Marshall job, in another state, on a rez she has no memory of ever having been to.

The story tackles themes of corrupt local government, reservation poverty and forced relocation. The central theme is the very real issue of missing and murdered indigenous women falling through the cracks and turning in to cold case files. Starr herself even refuses to take a missing person's case seriously, even after another woman turns up murdered. It's only after going through several cold case files, hearing that the chief's daughter has been missing for 10 years (Starr assumes murdered) and then realising the missing woman is likely still on the reservation after all that she suddenly starts taking the issue seriously. Even after that she spends a period of time wanting to run away from it all.
Starr, being an alcoholic, is barely sober once throughout, she drink drives, drinks whilst actually driving more than once, gets high at work, crashes her work vehicle drunk, pulls a gun on two people whilst drunk at work and is generally an asshole who makes bad decisions. And yet, nobody even questions her at all about her substance abuse, not even anyone off reservation who might be less inclined to turn a blind eye. I found this very hard to believe.
Starr also has bouts of rage and severe impatience for not very plausible reasons. She loses focus and misses entire conversations. Even occasionally she comes to in a completely different place doing something else with no recollection of how she got there. Which seems rather worse than weed or alcohol abuse, this is never really explained as anything more than booze. She also hallucinates a lot and yet seemingly nobody around her notices anything is wrong.

I found Carrie Starr to be kind of flat as a character for the first half of the book. Not one character is likeable, which is fine, but it didn't work for me in this story.
Things become more interesting in the second half just as the author starts to seriously explore the crisis of missing indigenous women and how they are "twice disappeared". The last 40 pages are the best part of the book and the meat of the story. But the ending wasn'tt the most satisfying for me. I think who the killer is was obvious from the second time they came up in the story., which for me removed a little bit of the tension and drive to speed through the boo.k.

Overall this book was OK, I'd have loved to see more of the folklore aspect utilised and I don't think that the government corruption subplot really added much either, I'd happily have let that out if it meant more of the folklore came through . I would read a second book if it had more folklore and focused more on the reservation and it's people. I think this book tried to do a little too much all at once for my tastes but the themes were interesting.

After flaming out of the Chicago PD following her daughter’s death, Carrie Starr accepts a position as tribal marshal for the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Saliquaw reservation. Straight out of the gate, Starr finds herself in the middle of an investigation into missing local college student Chenoa Cloud, only one of many young women who have died or disappeared on the rez over the years.

When Starr encounters the legend of the Deer Woman, she’s not sure if it’s just folklore or if it’s something more. The imagery of the Deer Woman is powerful and provides a touch of supernatural horror to the story. Although the book at heart is a crime thriller, it’s also a compelling commentary on the “twice” disappearance of Indigenous women, poverty and politics on the rez, and natural resources and environmentalism.

Starr is an interesting, complex character, drowning in her grief and at the bottom of a bottle. Although she’s frequently unlikeable and makes questionable decisions, there is real growth in her character arc, and I’m looking forward to seeing where her character goes in Wrath of the Water Tiger, due out in early 2026.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Newly-appointed Saliquaw Reservation Marshall Carrie Starr is rebuilding her life after a personal tragedy and subsequent missteps at her last law enforcement job in Chicago. Dulling the pain with booze and weed, Starr investigates a series of cold cases involving young women disappearing from the rez while grappling with her own grief. As the tribal council moves forward with a fracking deal in coordination with the town of Dexter Springs and Blackstream Oil Company, Starr begins seeing visions of a mythical deer woman rumored to avenge women who have been preyed upon by men. Is the deer woman an omen, hinting at danger to come? Or is she a sign that Starr is, finally, right where she needs to be?

I’ll be honest, Starr is not an easy character to root for. Even putting aside the substance abuse (whole bottles of whiskey consumed in a day and weed smells so pervasive that she has to wear Febreze like a perfume, all which no one appears to notice?), her ability to perform actual police work varies wildly over the course of the novel. She mulls over possibilities of the case but doesn’t follow leads until much later in the story, including when she receives a map of the likely place one of the missing girls would be. Starr has full-on flashbacks and hallucinations that take her away from reality, causing her to lose whole conversations that she doesn’t ever follow up on. She’s barely even able to feed herself, seemingly subsisting on Cheetos, the aforementioned whiskey, and a single turkey sandwich. She is simultaneously active and frustratingly passive in the climax. There are flashes of competency - staying silent to let suspects talk, checking out the local library for resources on the community, canvassing the members of the rez, sending suspicious samples for DNA testing - but she’s frequently so slow to act that it calls into question her skill as a law enforcement officer.

On top of that, while Starr is undeniably the protagonist of the novel, much of the book does not take place from her perspective. Within the first quarter of the story, the reader gets the point of view of 5 different characters (with continued perspective shifts in subsequent chapters). This forces the story to be exposition-heavy while also tipping the cards of the antagonist(s) early in the novel. And although sweeping corporate greed does require the input of multiple unscrupulous people, the reader does not need to be part of each internal monologue as they put their plans into action.

I also want to touch on the fact that, while the Deer Woman is a legendary creature among many Native cultures (including the Osage and Cherokee peoples near where the novel is set), Saliquaw is a fictional indigenous nation. As someone with no indigenous heritage, I am not qualified to speak to the authenticity of Native representation within the text. I’m sure Laurie L. Dove had a difficult path to walk, not wanting to lean into stereotypes or cultural appropriation in the writing of this story. Having Starr be a cultural outsider with genetic roots to the fictional tribe does mirror the author’s experience, so perhaps this is a case of “writing what you know.” That said, given the book’s shifting perspectives to mostly non-Native side characters, the protagonist’s internalized prejudice against the culture, and the “outsiders seeking to cash in on the local American Indian tribe’s natural resources” trope, I did not feel a strong cultural voice in this novel.

“When indigenous women disappear, they disappear twice: once in life, and once in the news.” That statement appears multiple times throughout the novel and refers to the statistic that indigenous women are 7 times more likely to be murdered compared to white women, but the media remains silent, law enforcement taking insufficient action. At various points Starr reflects on the inequity of the criminal justice system and lack of social support for indigenous people (especially indigenous women), and it is by far the strongest part of the novel.

Stories like Mask of the Deer Woman need to exist. Too often, women of color are victims of violence and marginalized people are left to fend for themselves against exploitation, all while institutional powers are slow to investigate these crimes. This is the premise that I signed up for. A real-world problem, set in the heightened drama of a thriller novel. I think the book would have been stronger if Chenoa (the main missing girl) and her mother were dual alternating protagonists, coming up against institutional obstacles and a shifting landscape for on rez. But that wasn’t the story we got, which instead centered around an unmotivated protagonist and left a plot that felt unfocused.

**Thank you to Penguin Publishing Group (Berkley Imprint) and Laurie L. Dove for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.**

Mask of the Deer WomanLiked it . Due to health issues cannot not but will write a proper review at a later time
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Mask of the Deer Woman follows Carrie, a woman reeling from a personal tragedy who takes a position as the sheriff of a small town within a reservation. Almost immediately on arrival she is faced with the disappearance of a young woman that opens up her eyes to the epidemic of lost and dead young indigenous women that go unnoticed and unsolved. Alongside this crime drama is the spector of the Deer Woman, a spirit that seeks revenge on men and serves as a protector of women. As Carrie is trying to solve this case, she is reckoning constantly with the Deer Woman, her own indigenous heritage and connection to the reservation, her recent personal tragedy, and her raging alcoholism. I will say right off the bat, I don’t like mysteries that center cop protagonists, and yeah Carrie is definitely a problematic cop. But when the book takes moments to examine cultural identity, especially as it relates to physical land and community, I think it really shines. Plus I love what it's trying to do to bring attention to the very real crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women. The writing is really great, but if you don’t like flawed protagonists or mysteries that lead primarily from a cop perspective then maybe this isn’t for you. Still it has a lot of heart and pretty great imagery throughout.

I will post this review on my instagram @boozehoundbookclub

As a native woman myself, this novel felt incredibly timely as our communities — both on and off the reservations — have been fighting to bring attention to the ongoing issue of MMIWG2S. Especially now that the current administration in the US is doing away with the hard won registry we successfully got implemented in the last few years.

This novel conquers other important themes connected to native life, such as what it's like to be raised without your culture, the fish out of water journeys so many 'city ndns' find themselves on as adults when trying to reconnect with the culture of their ancestors, and the isolation of feeling like you don't fit into it.

This is a mystery/suspense novel surely, but it's also a story about grief. Not just the grief of a mother after the death of a child, but the grief of a community having to endure the search for yet another missing woman, the grief of a child forced as an adult to reconnect with her culture and community, and the inevitable struggle and isolation that oftentimes comes with it.

Honestly, I did not expect much from this novel, but it exceeded those minute expectations by leaps. I couldn't help but empathise with Carrie, which I always feel is the hallmark of a good story. For a debut novel, it is certainly promising. I genuinely hope Dove chooses to make this the first of a series; one that I will certainly be eager to read.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. It was definitely one of the best books I read in 2024.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Mask of the Deer Woman

Author: Laurie L. Dove

Book Series: Standalone

Diversity: Indigenous Author, Indigenous MC and characters

Rating: 4.5/5

Recommended For...: mystery readers, thriller readers, Indigenous story readers, horror readers

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Publication Date: January 21, 2025

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 336

Recommended Age: 18+ (alcohol, drug use, alcoholism, animal violence, animal death, language, racism, child death, rape, violence, death, murder)

Explanation of CWs: Alcohol and alcoholism are mentioned and shown in this book. There is some drug use mentioned. There are scenes detailing animal violence and death. There is cursing in this book. There are scenes of racism and violence. There is a child death mentioned along with other deaths mentioned and shown. Rape is mentioned. Murder is mentioned and investigated.

If This Was a Taylor Swift Song: No Body, No Crime

Synopsis: 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.

Review: I loved this thriller/mystery book. The story is about a down and out detective, who's basically put on this case as the new Tribal Marshall to a reservation that she's not been back to in a long time, to placate the mother of a missing young college student. What Starr uncovers through her research though is much larger and shows a much bigger problem than what she and others originally thought. I loved that it actually discussed the multiple issues that Indigenous persons in America are currently facing, the biggest being the epidemic of missing and murdered women and the second being the issue of companies and governments wanting to abuse and steal Native land to drill on or put pipelines on or other things. I thought the premise and story were well written and it's a very important story that puts missing Indigenous women at the forefront of it with an Indigenous woman as the MC. The book was action packed, mysterious, and it kept my attention throughout it.

The only issues I had with the book were that I didn't like all the smaller plot points, the basic filler pieces. I was also left wanting more from this story. I really hope this becomes a series because I'd love to see Starr return to a book and solve another mystery.

Verdict: I loved it a lot! Definitely picking up a copy.

Due to the subject matter this book was a tough read. The author created a realistic world of what is going on today; high rate of indigenous women going missing, dirty politics, greed under veil of progress, and the indifference to the consequences to indigenous people and their home.

Carrie Starr left Chicago under a cloud and takes a job as a Marshall on the Oklahoma reservation her father grew up on. Her grieving of her murdered daughter leads to her abuse of alcoholism and drugs leaving her with little sympathy due the people she was hired to protect. At the beginning she had no interest in finding a recently missing women, but as time passes she comes to realize that it is not a simple runaway situation. The author layered multiple storylines together to lead to a surprising ending.

I received this advance review copy from NetGalley & the publisher for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkeley Publishing Group, and Laurie L. Dove, for this ARC of Mask of the Deer Woman that came out on January 21, 2025.

This book was full of mystery! A detective goes back to her roots to the reservation she was raised to help solve the cases of missing indigenous women.

⭐️Overall Rating: 3.5

This novel was provided by the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read the Kindle ARC of this debut novel by Laurie L. Dove.

This is a work of fiction, but touches on an important social injustice within the indigenous tribes of our country. Young indigenous women seem to disappear much too often and are very seldom found.

There is so much controversy in the US over immigrants and who belongs here and who does not. It always amazes me when the original inhabitants of this land (American Indians) are constantly overlooked. Which simply put, means the majority of Americans are the descendants of immigrants. (Personal rant over)

This fiction story follows Marshall Starr, who is still trying to find herself after the loss of her own daughter, as she investigates the disappearance of another young indigenous women from a reservation in Kansas. This is a slow burning mystery that builds in suspense throughout the book. Starr's own roots come from this very reservation and she hopes to figure out her own life through this journey.

If you like a slow burning mystery - this book is for you. I really enjoyed the historical references and how the story reflects real life for the indigenous in our country.

Carrie Starr has had a hard life, an ex-Chicago detective whose recently murdered daughter has caused her life to spiral out of control. Forced from Chicago to her father’s home state of Oklahoma as the new Marshal of the Saliquaw Nation to work on cold cases of missing indigenous girls cases, Starr is thrust into an open case of missing college student Chenoa Cloud. Starr is haunted by her past and also haunted by her father’s stories of the Deer Woman. Is it the alcohol and drugs that Starr constantly that conjures Deer Woman? Is it a figment of her imagination ? Who is the Deer Woman seeking vengeance upon?
Most of the characters are unlikable no matter the trauma endured throughout the storyline, including Starr herself. Most are doing terrible things for money (obviously), murder, and to help the Saliquaw Nation bring back life that has been denied to them. Everyone has an angle always and wants only their own way. I do feel like the whole story wrapped up with one killer being solely responsible for the entire missing indigenous women cases on this reservation for the past decade, which seemed highly unlikely otherwise the Mask of the Deer Woman was a thriller I could not put down. I am always a fan of a Good for Her revenge story.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eGalley ARC of this book for my honest review.