Carrie Star has suffered an unimaginable personal tragedy. Once a Chicago detective, she now finds herself on the Saliquaw Nation reservation in Oklahoma investigating yet another missing Indigenous girl. As she digs deeper into the investigation, Carrie begins to find clues linking at least a few of the murders around the reservation. Carrie is racing against the clock and her own demons to find the most recent missing girl before it’s too late.

It took me a while to get hooked on the story, but I did find myself invested in trying to figure out what happened to Chenoa and the women before her. The author did a great job of planting evidence along the way, so I was able to figure out what was going on and who was behind it. All of the characters we meet along the way were interesting and added to the narrative. I loved the feeling of the community. The myth of the deer woman is one I’m not familiar with and I really wish we had seen more of it here. I think an added supernatural element could have added to the story

Not enough attention is paid to the Indigenous women who go missing every year. I appreciate authors like Laurie L. Dove who use their voices to amplify the voices of those who are not able to.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a review copy. If you like novels by Nick Medina and White Horse by Erika T. Wurth definitely check out Mask of the Dear Woman.

I think this story had a lot of potential, but it fell short for me. I found it difficult to follow at times, and somewhat disjointed and confusing.
Carrie Starr is assigned as a Marshal on a Saliquaw reservation. Her father was Saliquaw reservation, and used to tell her stories and legends that she didn't understand, one was of a Deer Woman. Now, just a few days on the job, a woman claims her daughter, Chenoa, is missing and implores Starr to find her. Chenoa was working on a research project about beetles. The land they are on is the same as what a new oil project being pitched to the Saliquaw nation.
A mystery of missing women and legends.

The Mask of the Deer Woman is a raw, emotional and gritty tale of a woman navigating her own grief while trying to search for a missing girl. Carrie Starr has left Chicago and her job there as a cop for a new job as a marshal with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Her first case is tracking down a local girl who disappeared-- but she is only the latest in a series of missing girls from the rez. I enjoyed the characters, the setting and the many layers to the story. It was interesting to see how Starr's grief for her missing daughter informed her decisions. Though the ending felt a little rushed, I enjoyed this own voice's novel that highlights the serious crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women across North America.

Many thanks to Berkley & Netgalley for the ARC.

This is a fascinating story. Carrie Starr is dealing with the murder of her daughter and has left her job as a Chicago detective. She finds herself heading to the reservation where her father grew up to become tribal marshal. She is tasked with with finding a missing woman as well as solving past missing women cases. It’s really touching how she begins to discover parts of herself and her heritage that she had never really thought about or explored before. The missing woman is also very interesting and how she goes about trying to solve this case kept me in the book from start to finish.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Berkley for allowing people to sign up for the underrepresented reviewers program. I was so excited to get this book. As an Indigienous person, I am doing everything in my power to read more Indigineous authors and I am glad I can include Laurie in this. Laurie's writing is such a breath of fresh air. While I was a little confused/conflicted at times with the story, I really enjoyed it. It was such a unique and enthralling thriller. I loved how she was able to highlight/talk about MMIW and the movement behind it. It's such a devestating topic that doesn't get enough coverage. I also was raised by a white family and didn't get to know much of the Indigineous side of my paternal grandparents and their relatives, so I understood Carrie and her struggles on a deep level. I am still trying to get to know more about my own Indigenous relatives. Carrie was compelling and truly gave you a character to root for. Her backstory was tragic and I wanted her to succeed. The twist ending was so well done and I loved this story. I think Laurie is now an autobuy author. I highly recommend giving this one a try.

I picked this up because it was set in Oklahoma. Mysteries like this aren’t really my usual jam, but I thought it was well done. Carrie Starr was a compelling main character. She was complicated and rough around the edges. She had a native father but didn’t grow up on a reservation or around her native family which added complexity to the character and story. The story of the deer woman is told in a few different ways throughout the novel and helps center the narrative on the victims of the crimes rather than focusing on the perpetrators. This would be a hit for anyone who already likes a mystery.

This was a fantastic debut.  I really hope Dove is planning a series, I would leap at the chance to read more with Detective / Marshal Carrie Starr.

I am grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for this free ARC  in exchange for an honest review.

The Deer Woman shows up here, a mythical character who may be familiar if you've read books such as The Only Good Indians or The Antelope Wife.

<b>Things I liked:</b>
*  The characters and dialogue felt alive and real.
* Starr, in particular, is prickly and broken and exhausted, and she felt so real.  I loved how competent and confident she remained.
* I really felt the sense of place: the fields, the run down cabins, the cool autumn wind, the golden and russet grasses bending before the winter storm.
* The solution to the  mystery is a bit predictable, and <spoiler>the kaolin clay stuffed in the victim's mouths felt like a pointless red herring</spoiler>, but it was just obvious enough to feel satisfying, as if I had solved it myself.
* After Chapter 36, the pace picks up, and it was difficult to set the book down.


<b>Things that could have been improved (these are all minor things):</b>
* The pacing and structure is a bit uneven
* I was a bit frustrated with some events in the ending.  Marshal Starr had proven herself weathered, experienced, and competent (although laid low by her excessive drinking and drug use, she was still competent), so for her to fumble so many times in the last few chapters felt out of character.  Also, it didn't make sense <spoiler>that Chenoa would reference Sherry Ann, since Chenoa had been hiking in a remote area, and then kidnapped, and would not have known about Sherry Ann's death.</spoiler>
* A few times, especially toward the end of the book, the POV shifted back and forth between characters, or from omniscient third person to inside a character's head and then back again.
* Perhaps Dove wrote this in stages.  Once or twice, I started a new chapter and thought "wait, what? did I miss something?"  (Chapter 36, in particular, when Starr visits Odeina's trailer once again (but why? there was no reason given, it was a conversation we never read) <spoiler>and Odeina's MIL (Junior's mother) Lucy Cloud tells Starr about the origin of the Deer Woman, and says she herself was once hunted and raped, and she saw Deer Woman ; and Starr muses on how "fucking hungry" she is (although in the rest of the book Starr is constantly forgetting or neglecting to eat), and Lucy Cloud says "Deer Woman lives on.  She continues to punish those who prey on innocence." </spoiler>has a different feel than the rest of the book - I wouldn't be surprised to learn that's the first thing Dove wrote and she filled in the rest to fit around it.) 
* And the aspect that annoyed me the most:  some things are repeated too many times.  We are told again and again and again about the epidemic of missing young women on Native lands.  I understood the first time, I don’t need the same information served up over and over.  I can't even count the number of times Starr pointlessly thinks about how many missing young women there are. 


There are multiple POVs, which made it a little bit tough to keep track of who was who in the beginning since the connections were not yet clear, so I made a list:  
Marshal Starr
Mayor Helen Taylor - mayor of Dexter Springs 
Bernard Gilfoil - asst to mayor
Horace Wayne Holder - business man try to get a fracking deal
Junior Echo - friend of Starr’s father, also Chenoa’s uncle
Chenoa Cloud - student searching for endangered beetles; now possibly missing
Sherry Ann Awiakta - murder victim


  TW: murder (obviously), death of a daughter, drug and alcohol abuse.

Mystery • Thriller • Indigenous Mythology
Publication Date • 21 Jan 2025

🎉 Happy publication day and thanks to @berkleypub @prhaudio for the free book and ALC 🎧

🦌˙✧˖° ⋆｡˚ Mask of the Deer Woman blends mystery, thriller, and native lore, while shining a light on missing and murdered indigenous women and fracking. #MMIW

Half native Carrie Starr was raised off Rez. After a fall from grace forces her out of the local police, Bureau of Indian Affairs picks her up for an underfunded, dead end job as head tribal marshal. She’s not in a good headspace, on the bottle, and hard to like.

Now there is a missing college girl and cold cases stacking up for Marshal Starr. She begins seeing hallucinations, but are they real..? A deer woman spirit roams the woods, whistling through the trees…

Loved the premise. Pacing was slower than the norm for thrillers, sluggish to start. In the second half, the book hits its stride. I would prefer fewer POVs for even more guesswork. I really enjoyed the depth added by the deer legend mythology.

🦌✨ Check this one out if you like unlikeable characters with a blend of native lore and mystery/suspense. ✨🫎

TW: Sexual Assault/Rape, Murder, Death of Child, Kidnapping

I found this one a bit dark for me, but the story is well developed and delivered. I'm in a phase where I'm shying away from the hard-boiled, in-your-face mysteries and thrillers, so this one wasn't for me right now. I picked up a print copy of it and will keep it for when my reading mood has changed because the subject matter is something I'm interested in.

Thank you Berkley Books, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of Mask of the Deer Woman in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a powerful debut and what I just found out is going to be the start of a new series. It’s such an atmospheric, captivating read and I have not stopped thinking about it since I finished the book.

Besides having cover envy – yes, I did go and buy a copy of the book for my bookshelves! – this book grabbed my attention because of the topics it explored, mainly that of missing Indigenous Women on reservations and how nothing is typically done about. While this book is fiction, it is rooted in reality and for that reason alone, I went through so many emotions reading it.

Our protagonist is the type of character I love. She’s deeply flawed, and while she is not always very likeable, she is a compelling character. Taking a new role with BIA, she returns to the reservation where her father grew up. She’s not happy in this role at the outset of this book and we see that, which makes some of her choices hard to swallow. By the end of the book, it’s like she’s almost done a complete 180, and part of that has to do with the case she takes on but the other part is that she begins to see visions of the Deer Woman. I loved watching her evolution and am excited to see how that continues throughout the series.

I loved the way the author wove the Native folklore into the story. The Deer Woman, a spirit that can be seen as both fearsome and mysterious, really got to Carrie and this is what kept me fully engaged. Carrie’s continual questioning of whether this was real or not kept had me hooked and that sense of whether we were dealing with just a legend or something else made for some intense moments.

This will absolutely be a top read for me – and I know it’s early in the year, but I’m calling it now. I loved it and will be recommending it to everyone I know. And I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in this series. In the meantime, I know I’ll be rereading this one before that…good thing I have that print copy!

While I enjoy mysteries centered around missing Indigenous women with myth and lore added in, this book dragged for me. The investigation (as some are) moved very slowly and didn’t hold my interest, mainly because Carrie Starr has so much going on that the investigation takes a back seat to her alcoholism and grief (which I know can happen but it doesn’t make for a good read for me). Other than her grief, there’s not much development, making it difficult to connect. This just wasn’t for me.

My favorite aspect of the book was the myth and the lore of the Deer Woman, how it was woven into the story, and how she appeared to the main heroine, Carie Starr, and other characters. I appreciated the descriptions of Indigenous culture and life on the reservation. However, I struggled with the pacing of the book. It felt disjointed, with narration jumping between multiple POVs.

The main heroine drank a lot. She drank while driving, investigating, at work, and at home. I understood why she was trying to numb her feelings with alcohol, but alcoholic characters are my least favorite to read about. I don't find them particularly interesting or compelling ( a personal preference), so it was hard for me to like her. The mystery aspect was executed well. I didn't guess who the culprit was and was very satisfied with the ending. Final verdict: mixed feelings.

Another new indigenous voice in crime fiction delves into the issues of missing and murdered indigenous women and the lost heritage of natives raised without tribal heritage through adoption or diaspora. A tough read but worth the time investment.

Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
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I don’t know why but this story was just perfect for a winter read! Ex-Chicago detective Carrie is lost. After her daughter’s murder she decides to take a job as tribal marshal. Girls go missing on the reservation and dark memories return. This was a good one. Also, the author’s note was so interesting!
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Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

I found this story quite captivating!

Mask of the Deer Woman centers around Detective Carrie Star, who in addition to fighting her own demons, is now responsible for figuring out why so many women have been disappearing from the reservation where she has her own complicated history.

There is A LOT going on in this book, with subplots and characters from both the reservation and nearby town, a missing girl, a murdered girl, a stack of cold cases, tribal leadership and history as well as the influence of the titular Deer Woman. However, it does all come together for the reader. After enough build-up of the characters, you can almost guess where this is going, although author Laurie L. Dove does keep it suspenseful.

I thought the message weaved throughout about Indigenous people, what they endure, how they are treated and the reality of women and girls in general was important and provided powerful perspective. Reading the author’s note gives the reader much more context, but I knew well before I got there that this book was personal, the love and care she gave to these characters and their journeys was evident.

I also had the pleasure of listening to part of this and really enjoyed the narration by Isabella Star Lablanc, a Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota actor. It felt moving to hear her bring this story to life—highly recommend the audiobook!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read a copy of this. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you @berkley.pub @prhaudio & @netgalley for my complimentary digital and audio copies. All opinions expressed are my own.

After the tragic loss of her daughter, former Chicago detective Carrie Starr returns to her roots on the reservation where her father grew up. The tribe is in need of a new marshal, and Starr is searching for a sense of belonging. However, the reservation has been plagued for years by the mysterious disappearances of young women, and the latest case involves a local college student Chenoa Cloud, who has gone missing. As Starr investigates she is haunted by painful memories of her own daughter's fate.

When Starr encounters a mysterious woman with the antlers of a deer, Starr remembers tales told by her father and she is not sure if the Deer Woman is a protector guiding her through her grief, or a vengeful spirit seeking retribution for the lost daughters of the reservation.

MY THOUGHTS: It took me awhile to get into this descriptive novel. I started out listening to it, but the narrator’s monotone voice with little distinction between character voices made the story difficult to follow. At chapter nineteen, I switched to the print version and enjoyed that a bit more. This is a slow burn story. Starr, experiencing guilt and grief at the loss of her daughter, does a lot of reflecting. The action significantly picks up in the final chapters, with a surprising twist.

Mask of the Deer Woman is an excellent, exciting debut novel by Laurie Dove. The story follows Carrie Starr, newly hired as a tribal marshal on an Oklahoma reservation. Starr is a damaged, flawed, ex-Chicago cop, who drinks too much and smokes a lot of weed to dull the painful memories of her past traumas. In her new position, she quickly becomes involved in solving the disappearance and deaths of young women from the rez. The story is immersive, and contemporary, tackling the issues of the dangers suffered by young and indigenous women, desecration of land by greedy corporate oilmen, and misogynistic attitudes overall.
Starr is a complicated character with self-destructive behaviors, but she has an enormous heart and sensitivity to the fates of the missing indigenous women, and the hard lives of those on the reservation. As a reader, I became invested in Starr’s struggles to manage her new job, her past trauma, and her emotions.
The recurring image of the Deer Woman is an effective plot device, involving magical thinking and cultural legend with a mysterious, sinister character in her past. In the last exciting chapters, the Deer Woman finally is explained!
The author’s note is a “must read” as it illuminates her reason and passion for writing this novel.
I highly recommend this book for readers who enjoy mystery novels with strong, complicated women, intelligent investigative procedurals, and a great sensitivity to the plight of under-represented, struggling communities.

Thank you to Berkley Besties, Berkley Books and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

I found this strong debut from Laurie L Dove to be atmospheric and compelling. The reservation was the perfect setting, and the story highlighting missing indigenous girls and women was heartbreaking and enlightening. The main character was deeply flawed and chased away her grief and demons with alcohol and marijuana. She was not exactly likable, but if she can heal, she would make a wonderful series protagonist. The other characters were quite varied in personality and motivations, and I enjoyed their contributions to the story. The mystery kept me engaged throughout.

What an incredible debut! MASK OF THE DEER WOMAN explores the heartbreaking number of missing indigenous women. I didn't find the main character super likable, but appreciated how her past & motivations were revealed over time. The end was twisty and action-packed!