Mask of the Deer Woman

Mask of the Deer Woman, the debut novel from Author Laurie L. Dove, explores the daily tragic realities faced by Indigenous People living on reservations – the hopelessness, despair, poverty, youth lost to addiction or big cities, rape of land and resources as well as the heartbreaking, ongoing epidemic of missing Indigenous Women who disappear from reservations yearly with little to no recognition or concern from the news media or law enforcement.

After the murder of her teenage daughter left her drowning in grief and guilt with no place to turn, ex-Chicago Detective Carrie Starr finally lands a job as tribal marshal for the new Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Oklahoma reservation where her father grew up. Hoping to be accepted home, her main priority is to investigate the cold cases of missing and murdered Indigenous Women others have deemed unworthy. The urgency and stakes increase when Chenoa Cloud, a local college girl researching the possibility of an endangered species of insects on a plot of reservation land, disappears with clues pointing towards a connection to past disappearances. As Carrie begins investigating, her own dark, haunting memories surface, leaving her lost in foggy hallucinations of the Deer Woman, a mystical Indian lore figure with a female body bearing a deer’s antlers – one she recalls from her father’s long-ago tales, but why is she repeatedly appearing to Carrie? As she digs deeper, Carrie begins uncovering widespread corruption among the town’s leaders including a get rich scheme involving oil found on reservation land. . . the same land that may be an endangered species’ habitat. It’s up to Carrie to connect all the pieces of the puzzle before another girl disappears. Carrie failed to save her own daughter . . . she can’t let these women down.

Mask of the Deer Woman is an intense, highly atmospheric story about the plight of a nation of people long ignored by authorities as well as the news media. Most of the story unfolds through Carrie’s point of view, allowing readers to ride shotgun as she frantically searches for the missing women hoping to bring closure to grieving families while trying to keep a handle on her own sanity. Carrie’s repeated hazy visions set a dire tone of malice, driving a steadily rising pace as she races the clock to find the missing college student before she too is lost. The author does a fantastic job offering up red herrings with plausible motive to keep readers guessing until the final climax and reveal. The magical realism element of Indian lore is beautifully written and incorporated into the story in a manner that enhances the plot line while driving the suspense. Characters and readers are left wondering if the Deer Woman is friend or foe.

Author Laurie L. Dove’s debut novel, Mask of the Deer Woman, is the heartbreaking story of missing and murdered Indigenous women often ignored by law enforcement. It’s the story of the difficulty faced by one woman in her search to find her place in a cruel, unaccepting world that took her daughter from her – to find a place of healing where she belongs when she’s pulled between two vastly different worlds, neither of which welcome her. Intense and highly visual, Mask of the Deer Woman is for fans of mysteries, suspense and heartfelt stories with a touch of magical realism.