» READ IF YOU «
👤 love a complex, flawed protagonist
🔍 enjoy suspenseful mysteries with depth
🦌 kinda love the concept of a vigilante who preys on men

» SYNOPSIS «
After the murder of her daughter, detective Carrie Starr finds herself on her father’s reservation as the new tribal marshal. Tasked with investigating the disappearances of young Indigenous women, including the recent disappearance of college student Chenoa, Starr confronts her own grief while navigating a community rife with secrets. Haunted by visions of the Deer Woman—a figure from her father’s stories—Starr must decipher whether this spirit is a guide or a harbinger of vengeance as she delves deeper into the mysteries surrounding her.

» REVIEW «
This story was a compelling blend of mystery and character study that kept me engaged from start to finish. Starr is richly developed — a woman grappling with personal demons, while striving to bring justice to her new community. The inclusion of Indigenous folklore, particularly — MY QUEEN — Deer Woman, added some deliciously dark paranormal vibes to the story.

I am hopeful for a Carrie Starr continuation, because I really enjoyed her growth and there’s plenty more to explore in the rest of the characters! Junior, my man! Overall, it’s a thought-provoking read that sheds light on important issues within Indigenous communities.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Carrie just moved from Chicago to northern Oklahoma for a new job as a tribal marshal for a reservation. She expects to be researching old cases of missing women from the reservation but immediately gets involved in a new case with a missing college woman named Chenoa. When talking to the Chenoa's family, she hears a legend about the deer woman who takes vengeance on men who don't treat women well. Carrie is at first an unlikeable character, she is constantly, drinking even on the job, and doesn't take the college girl's disappearance seriously, thinking she's off somewhere with a friend. Also the story hints as to why she left Chicago and how something bad happened to her daughter. I liked that the story show the struggles that affect people who live on reservations, the lack of good paying jobs and the poverty they often experience. The setting of a small reservation near the Kansas/Oklahoma border is unique. I wish Carrie's reasons for taking the job in Oklahoma were explained earlier in the story, it would have made the reader more sympathetic to her questionable choices.

"Mask of the Deer Woman" is Laurie L. Dove's debut novel. I haven't
stopped thinking about it since I read it.

Struggling after her daughter's death, Carrie Starr (our protagonist)moves from Chicago to the reservation where her father grew up. There, she is hired as tribal marshal while she tries to heal from her past. When a college girl goes missing from the reservation, Starr's investigation reveals a larger and more complicated mystery than expected.

Dove's use of the story of Deer Woman to confront the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women is masterful. Her background in creative writing, social justice, and journalism shows in this novel. While a fictional story, "Mask of the Deer Woman" is rooted in very real and complex issues that indigenous communities are dealing with.

This book is more than just a thriller. It tells the story of an indigenous woman trying to solve the cases of missing indigenous women that have been ignored by local law enforcement while struggling with grief and her sense of self.

DNF. I like the premise, but the narrative felt very unfocused, because of the myriad secondary POVs (3 in six chapters), and the main one wasn’t that engrossing to begin with.

Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove illuminates the pressing issue of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis, weaving a captivating mystery into a poignant exploration of grief, identity, and reconnection.

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.