This intriguing debut focuses on a Chicago detective who leaves her position under a cloud and takes a job as a Marshall on the Oklahoma rez her father grew up on. She abuses alcohol, is still grieving the murder of her daughter, and is now tasked with finding a woman who has gone missing there. Turns out there are more women who have gone missing without much effort to find them. I would have liked this more if the MFC had been more likable. Hope that occurs if this becomes a series.

There's nothing wrong with an archetype or a plot that doesn't stray far from its formula, especially if a story offers something fresh besides. That's the case with Laurie L. Dove's debut novel, Mask of the Deer Woman, where familiar and new propel the story, and its detective, forward.

Carrie Starr (but don't call her Carrie) just started at her last-chance job as a marshal on the tribal reservation her father called home when an alleged missing persons case lands on her desk. Still reeling from the metaphorical hangover of her last job as a detective in Chicago and her teenage daughter's brutal murder (and the literal hangover from the alcoholism that has spiraled out of control since her daughter's death), Starr feels safe in assuming the missing woman has just wandered too far for her helicopter mother's comfort. But the discovery of a body—of a woman other than the one gone missing—leads Starr to discover how many young women have gone missing on the rez over the last several years, and how little has been done about it.

The new revelation doesn't banish Starr's demons, but it does make her run harder from them as she digs into these long-abandoned cases and leverages her experience and contacts to try to find answers. But she's not the only one standing in her own way. Other residents on the rez don't trust her, even though they knew her father. In the town just outside the reservation's borders, city officials welcome her, even as they work behind the scenes to ensure construction on an oil pipeline goes ahead as planned. And perhaps worst of all, Starr has begun to hallucinate. At least, that's the most reasonable explanation she has for why a woman with deer antlers has begun appearing before her.

Starr's character is grown in some familiar soil: a hard-drinking detective whose career and family trauma pull her in opposite directions, and she's got one last chance to prove herself before she's kicked off the force for good. Behind her taciturn exterior, though, is a more interesting and unique conflict. Starr was raised off the rez, at the insistence of her mother, but always felt incomplete ignoring her tribal half. At the same time, growing up outside the boundaries of the rez and her non-native half from her mother make her too much of an outsider to feel comfortable in her new post. Being of both worlds means she belongs to neither one, and this clash of identities gives Dove fertile ground for some terrific, nuanced characterization that takes Starr beyond her hard-boiled archetype.

Dove, who has tribal ancestry but was adopted and raised outside of a reservation, also uses Starr's ruminations on identity to provide some of the most heartfelt, and beautifully written, passages in this book. "Maybe if she'd been raised here, been part of the rez, part of an extended family tree whose broken branches remained inextricably tied to one another, she would know about caves, about ghosts, about half lives and how to cure them," Dove writes.

There's plenty of nuance leftover for many of the side characters, particularly those with prickly demeanors or shadowy pasts. There's none, however, wasted on the villains of this story, and those villains are telegraphed pretty early on. I don't mind cackling villains, though I think villains in shades of gray who are convinced of their own righteousness are more interesting. What yanked me out of the story more was how there was often no thoughtful writing left for the villains, either. Not only do Dove's villains cackle and monologue about their plans, they muse to themselves about "ungrateful plebeians" and say things like, "Au contraire!" to other villains. (No one in this novel is French.) The disjointed nature between the flowing river of words and characterizations afforded Starr and those she comes into contact with versus the gravel pit given to the villains makes Deer Woman feel at times as though it had been written by two authors taking turns, or composed of two different manuscripts shuffled together.

When Deer Woman is good, it's so very, very good. When it's not, it's...fine. But I look forward to Dove's future work, and hope her next novel lets her shine a little more consistently.

(This review will post on 21 January 2025 at 4:00 p.m. MST at https://ringreads.com/2025/01/21/despite-unevenness-deer-woman-a-compelling-read/)

Mask of the Deer Woman is about one missing girl, all missing girls. About a body of a young woman found on a rez. About a woman who lost everything but even though she wants nothing still survives. Carrie Starr is a hard character to like. She drinks whiskey on the job. Her consciousness seems to fade in and out. The reader wants her to be better but learns to accept that her ways are different but still have meaning.

3.5 stars: I liked this book. I connected to the folklore within Mask of the Deer Woman and the resilience of women. I also really appreciated that this story is centered around missing Indigenous women whose stories all too often go unheard. The story was very compelling and was a mystery that came together with a satisfying end. The FMC is complicated/multilayered and a bit difficult to understand her motives in the beginning but once her background was explained, it was easier to sympathize with her.

I want to thank Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the eARC and the opportunity to read a story that represents an underrepresented group.

I liked the story line about the focus on the disappearance of indigenous women on reservations.
I honestly could not like the main character, Carrie. She drank too much and smoked too much. She wallowed in her own self pity instead of actively doing her job. She barely attempted to look for Chenoa.
The writing was good but I thought the dirty politicians should have been outed.
It sort of had the same aura of Dark Winds.

While this novel did have an interesting premise, overall the book did not work for me.

The author included multiple points of view (I think with the intention of providing insight and backstory for secondary characters), but these resulted in a cluttered feel to the narrative rather than any depth of character. With the exception of the main character, characters throughout the story were largely one-dimensional.

The plot felt clunky as well, with the individual elements not clicking together into a cohesive whole. This was intensified with issues in clarity of the writing. I often struggled to follow what was happening in the story.

I did appreciate the issues this novel takes on, particularly the issue of indigenous women gone missing. The author brings a fresh take on this, giving an explanation in this specific story that is both believable and unique.

Thank you so much Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC!
The premise of this novel was very compelling. I really appreciate the highlighting of MMIW as this continues to be an issue that does not get enough attention. The storyline did start a little slow for me and slightly confusing. However, once I got a feel for the characters and the origin story of the Deer Woman, the story began to really flow. The FMC was fairly complicated. Given her back story, it was understandable why.
Overall, I did enjoy this novel. I think its important to tell stories that bring awareness to MMIW.

Carrie Starr has just taken a job as marshal on the reservation in Oklahoma that her father came from. She's running from her past and trying to outrun her grief at the death of her seventeen-year-old daughter. She left the Chicago PD under a cloud. Now, she's self-medicating with whiskey and weed.

The BIA has hired her because so many indigenous women are missing or murdered. A dozen or so have disappeared from the reservation where Carrie is working. She arrives to find that another young woman has gone missing. Her mother is certain that foul play is involved. Carrie isn't so sure and doesn't put her all into the investigation. Then the body of another young woman is discovered which ramps up her investigation.

Meanwhile, we also hear part of the story from some other viewpoints including the town mayor and a local rancher who are both depending on an oil company deciding to do some fracking on reservation land and who might have reasons to want the first missing young woman to stay missing. She's investigating the possibility that there is a rare colony of rare beetles somewhere on the reservation. Proving it will scuttle the mayor and rancher's plans and cost them lots and lots of money.

The story was very atmospheric and introspective. It was hard reading about Carrie's grief and seeing her make bad choices. I liked the legend of the Deer Woman which infused the whole story.

This one was just OK. As someone who lived in Oklahoma for a while and taught students that lived on reservations, I have verryyy limited exposure to reservation life and won’t pretend to be an expert, but this one….i couldn’t get over HOW MUCH SHE DRANK. We learned a lot about whiskey and bourbon but the girl never picked up a water bottle? I understand a nod to prevalent alcohol abuse and all that, but it was really hard for me to be like ummm if you store whiskey under your seat you may as well also put a liter of water in there after the FIRST time you get stranded? no? Just me?

Anyway. The twist at the end got me - and I loved the corruption. If this had like one more good edit, it would be a knockout of a novel.

Book Review Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove

Carrie Star takes the job as Tribal Marshal out of desperation after having to leave the Chicago police force. Although her tribal connection through her father got her the job she is seen as an outsider. Instead of the cold cases she is supposed to focus on she is immediately confronted by a missing woman and that is closely followed by a murdered woman.

I loved that the book chose to solely focus on missing and murdered Indigenous women. So topical! It delves into the multitude of complicated issues surrounding MMIW; policing jurisdictions on and off reserve, policing indifference and racism that together results in a lack of investigations or delayed investigations. The difference in how the disappearance of an Indigenous woman is treated is appalling and the anger, helplessness and fear of the families was heartbreaking and painful. It left me imagining all these mothers pleading to be believed that their child is missing.

Carrie was such a messy, complex character, not your usual detective heroine. Her complicated grief over the death of her daughter added such an emotional connection to an investigation already fraught with emotion. Her initial disinterest in the job that gradually transformed, giving way to her resolve to find Chenoa was so compelling. This POV was very unique and drew you to her. Her internal battle with her otherness and disconnection from her the community and culture was fascinating, in particular her initial responses to the missing person reports where she clearly has succumbed to the racist beliefs she was raised with. Her gradual growth from resentment to longing for connection and roots was a beautiful evolution. I particularly enjoyed Chenoa’s grandmother, her wisdom and stories but also Carrie’s changed responses to the stories and her acceptance and belief in the teachings.

The additional backstory of oil rights, friction between neighbouring white community, Reserve decisions to protect the land or provide prosperity and hope to the impoverished community was very interesting and provided an added layer of intrigue and mystery. The dilemmas, fractured relationships and manipulation seemed very realistic.

The weaving of the traditional teaching of Deer Woman who seeks vengeance on behalf of women against those who injure innocence was amazing. It added important cultural elements, a unique way to express the rage of women, and to give voice to women’s stories. It also provided supernatural elements that increased the suspense and mysticism and elevated this from the usual murder mystery genre.

"To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself.

At rock bottom following her daughter's death, ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr's father never talked much about the reservation where he was raised, but the tribe needs a new marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home.

In the past decade, too many young women have disappeared from the rez. Some have ended up 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."

Deer Woman! YAS!

Laurie L. Dove weaves a compelling narrative about indigenous communities and the land surrounding them with a side heaping of murder and intrigue. While it was slow at parts, the ending was action packed enough to keep me hooked. 3.5 stars rounded up to four for goodreads.

Plot:
Carrie Starr is the new Reservation Marshal in the Saliquaw Nation of northern Oklahoma. Running away from the grief of her daughter's death, she takes the job with her father's people out of desperation, but stumbles upon so much more. There's a slew of missing indigenous women that is only made more daunting by the constant reappearance of the Deer Woman, a malignant (or is she???) spirit of native belief. With so many suspicious characters to choose from, the prospect of fracking, and a new missing girl on the rez Marshal Starr's road ahead is NOT an easy one.

Thanks:
Thank you to NetGalley, Laurie L. Dove, and Berkley publishing for this ARC.

A powerful story about missing Indigenous women and girls starring a deeply complicated detective who refuses to give up. Starr is jaded after losing her job as a Chicago detective and is still grieving the murder of her daughter. So when she's tasked with investigating the disappearance of a teen girl on tribal land in Oklahoma, she's determined to stop the loss of another life. Haunted by the spirit of the mythological figure of the Deer Woman, Starr must determine if she's working with or against her. It's gritty, dark, and keeps you guessing to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for giving me access to this eARC!

Wow, I gobbled this book up so quickly. Although this is a fictional novel, there is a real epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Another real issue is the erasure of Indigenous heritage through residential homes, the sixties scoop, etc. Dove, as an Indigenous woman adopted by a white family, speaks from the heart in her writing as these are topics that mean something to her. I was captivated by the human-ness of Starr, our protagonist who is inherently flawed. My heart also wept for Junior, Odeina, Chief Byrd, and the other members of the community who suffered loss and prejudice. Dove also created some very intriguing villains, and not all of them got their just desserts. The twists and turns this book turned kept me so drawn to every page, I needed to know what happened. Chenoa's ending and storyline in general was also quite satisfying.

This was a 4.5 star read for me only because at times, I really wanted to smack Starr over the head. I'm sure this was intentional but unlikeable protagonists and I have a complicated relationship.

I cannot wait to read more from Laurie L. Dove!

DNF - I get that MMIW are a real problem that we're ignoring, but the "detective who doesn't really belong on the rez" has been done better by others.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

Good read, but very predictable! I think the main character had a lot of demons and the demons almost finished her off.

In her debut novel, Mask of the Deer Woman, Laurie Dove highlights the issue of missing Indigenous women this tale of a mixed-race woman who is assigned to a reservation on the Kansas-Oklahoma border, where many young women and girls of the fictitious Saliquaw Nation have disappeared over the years. Now, Marshal Carrie Starr must search for a college student, whose mother insists she would not have disappeared on her own.

I didn’t find Starr to be a particularly likable person. I’m not sure she even fits the definition of an anti-hero, at least not for most of the plot. She just wants to do enough to get by. She’s a sorry excuse for a law enforcement agent, at least initially. She’s been sent to the rez mainly because of her heritage and because she messed up big time in Chicago. This is her last chance to prove herself. Starr doesn’t really expect to find Chenoa Cloud because she does believe that the woman left on her own, like so many others who have nothing to live for on the rez. Starr herself has little to live for; she’s grieving the death of her daughter. She’s angry, not just at the person responsible, but at herself and at the world.

When she arrives, members of the tribe do not seem to accept her. No one wants to give her information about the missing woman. To them, she’s an outsider, despite the fact that her late father once lived there. As the hours and days pass, Starr feels like she’s getting nowhere. She copes by swigging whiskey that she stows under the seat of her Bronco and toking weed that she keeps in her pocket. It seemed to me that someone would’ve gotten a whiff of that, but no one says a word about it, at least not to Starr. And she seems to barely eat regular meals. With habits like that, how she could function was beyond me. Another death reminds her of her daughter, sends her reeling, but how many more will there be? Maybe she can find Chenoa before it’s too late.

It is Chenoa’s grandmother who, in her rambling, seemingly delusional way, speaks to Starr of the Deer Woman. Is she real? People claim to have seen her. Maybe Starr does too. Motivated by the memory of her daughter and the Native women who are lost, Starr is determined to keep on searching.

Life on the reservation is hard. People live in poverty, and they do what they can to survive and to cope. When the town and a big company offer a chance for the Nation to become prosperous, the tribal council is all for it, but some in the community disagree. There will be a steep cost to the land, the water, and to the wildlife if the development plans proceed.

Laurie Dove has created a story that is both magically mystical and painfully realistic. Despite my early skepticism, the more Starr became engaged in her job, the more I became engaged in following along. The Mask of the Deer Woman is an impressive debut novel.

I received an ARC copy. Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley, and Ms. Dove. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

4 stars

Such a well written book that will keep you captivated until the very end. This should be in everyone's tbr for 2025.

As soon as I began to read this book it sucked me right in. The pages were flying, my mind was turning, and my heart was breaking for these Indigenous girls and woman who have disappeared from the Rez. The police, BIA, FBI, anyone who could be of any help have turned their back on the Saliquaw Nation. Giving any excuse they can come up with not to do an actual investigation. Ex-Chicago Detective Carrie Starr has been assigned as the new tribal marshal. Carrie has never lived on the rez, but her father grew up there. Making her eligible for the position. Her life has been turned upside down since the death of her daughter. Carrie finds the bottom of too many whiskey bottles. She needs a fresh start, a place to mourn, and hopefully turn her life around.

After arriving Carrie has no time to settle in. Chenoa Cloud has disappeared. Her mother cannot get ahold of her, and it has been days. Chenoa has been hunting for an endangered beetle. Which could save the rez from the newest oil venture. As Carrie begins to dig into the missing girls, she is beginning to see the puzzle pieces beginning to move. Who has the power and who does not? She must also confront her own past. Leaving her to wish her father brought her back to the rez more often and to teach his ways. As the past and the present comes to a head, leaving all to bear.

I loved the atmospheric vibe that was created. The intense cold, the wind, the driving rain, made me burro deeper into my blankets. The daily hardships that people on the rez run into made my heart bleed. Thank you to Laurie L. Dove and Berkley Publishing for my gifted copy of this phenomenal book.

This book is full of brutal truths, and brokenness caused by trauma. The author does not shy away from the tension between wanting to ignore a part of yourself, and feeling like you don’t belong anywhere. Starr is a woman with no hope-teetering on the edge of a cliff into full-blown despair. She drowns herself in alcohol to numb all pain, and is only doing her current job because it is her last chance at something better. Dove draws us into Starr’s despair, and also her initial refusal to accept any Indigenous folklore because facts are the only truth she is willing to believe.

As the reader gets further into the story, we are shown the heartbreaking reality of Indigenous people living on reservations, and the women who disappear without much care or thought from anyone outside of their community. They are the forgotten, the neglected, the lesser than, and the pain their families feel is a blip on the radar of those not living with it everyday.

This book was heavy, agonizing, and a slap in the face with hard truths we must be willing to accept. And although the ending isn’t a happy one, it’s more honest and true to the daily life of Indigenous peoples. Sometimes life doesn’t give you a clean and neatly tied up answer to your problem. Sometimes the only thing you can do it keep going. This book was very good, and I would recommend it to anyone.