Vanessa Lillie

This book was incredible in its intensity and its characterizations. It has a plot that is crafted with the misdirection of a gifted illusionist bringing the reader to the point of solution and then disclosing that that solution is incorrect. Lillie writes with a fluent prose and a seamless narrative that keeps the reader turning pages. Devon's friend, Belina, is murdered on the same day that Devon is rushed to the hospital for a premature delivery that turns into an emergency C-section. She show more is not fully recovered when a college friend is accused of Belina's murder and Devon feels compelled to launch her own investigation. Suffering from symptoms of post-partum depression she struggles with the return of the "Little Voices" that once marked a traumatic childhood. Can she prove her college friend is innocent? Is he innocent? I confess this is one of a few mysteries that kept me from solving the case before the solution was revealed. Lillie's characters are fully developed and complex, and she writes with emotion, crafting a story that integrates the narrative, the characterizations and the plot to bring everything together in a climactic conclusion. I look forward to her next book! show less

Syd Walker, a Cherokee anthropologist employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has returned to her residence in Rhode Island after the traumatizing events she experienced back home in Oklahoma (recounted in Blood Sisters, 2023). She discovers a message on a work phone left behind by her retired boss that leads her to sneak over a wall to visit a possible grave site at an exclusive club where, apparently, native remains have been uncovered. The anthropologist who plans to excavate them may show more have been trained at Harvard, but he doesn’t know what he’s doing and doesn’t take seriously the ethical duties owed to the deceased woman’s people, the Narragansetts who still live in Rhode Island. Syd is appalled to learn that her boss was excavating native remains and artifacts at the club for decades without informing the tribe or the BIA. Before long, the bones that she has begun to help excavate disappear, as does a young woman from the tribe, a disappearance the authorities refuse to take seriously.

The Founders Society where the excavations have been secretly undertaken is an organization with a long history, dedicated to preserving the heritage of the first White colonists. They have an unnerving way of assuming the native peoples encountered by their ancestors vanished long ago, and the land the society members now occupy is a legacy to celebrate. Some of them want to build a museum that will include the excavated remains and artifacts and make the argument that it will be good to include Native history in their project. Syd is repulsed by their arrogance, but goes along to ensure that the remains are treated appropriately, pretending to be on board. “Stolen land. Stolen people,” she reflects. “Stolen remains. Unhealed, the echo never stops.”

Her former boss had spent summers training youth attending a Founders Society camp to help with the excavations. She takes on that job, helping the kids understand the significance of their work as she digs into the activities of the Society. Something is very wrong, and she is determined to uncover its secrets. “Below ground or above, I gather information, catalog and look for fact patterns, for correlations, for the stories in the bones.” Ultimately, her goal is to reunite the indigenous ancestors with their people today, even if the Society has other plans.

The Bone Thief is a complex, absorbing, and sometimes demanding book. As the second in the series, it weaves in events from the previous book that enrich Syd’s fictional world, but may be somewhat confusing to those new to it. That said, the author does an excellent job of inventing a sinister historical society to contrast with the protagonist’s native perspective. Lillie weaves into her story the past and present of the Indian nations native to New England, communities that predate colonization and are still fighting for recognition. Readers will find the multiple strands of the imaginative story are drawn together in a satisfying resolution with a heroine they will be glad to have gotten to know.

Reposted from Crime Fiction Review - https://crimefictionreview.com/the-bone-thief-by-vanessa-lillie/ show less

Blood Sisters is a gripping and chilling mystery/suspense that I didn’t want to put down. The MC is a Cherokee archaeologist for the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) who’s investigating two disappearances of women. One of them is her sister.

Set largely in Northeast Oklahoma, Lillie crafted such a compelling story surrounding Native heritage, land and mineral rights, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, poverty, pollution, and drug addiction. She educates about these topics in show more an organic way, without the reader feeling like they’re being preached to. Themes of identity, family, loyalty, sisterhood, and generational trauma are explored. One thing that bothered me was off-page SA that seemed like it needed more attention. I loved the queer and Two-Spirit representation. The fact that happenings in this book were inspired by true events and the issues of MMIWG2S, land rights, etc. are real and still current today made this an especially poignant reading experience.

Altogether, this was fast-paced and full of secrets and twists. Absolutely recommended! show less

Archaeologist Syd Walker finds herself involved with an elite historical society when a young Native girl goes missing and soon after the newly excavated bones of another young Native woman and her baby is discovered on the grounds of the Founders Society. Overnight, those bones disappear leaving Syd to find both the living girl and the bones.

Syd has inherited the job of her newly retired boss with the society. She finds herself dealing with members who want to turn the area into an show more historical theme park centering around their very extensive dig and featuring artifacts that her former boss has found over many years.

Syd, being Cherokee, is appalled at the notion that bones of Natives and other artifacts will be on display, but she takes her cues from the Native trickster Coyote to pretend to go along with those plans while trying to find the missing girl and the missing bones.

The book, set in 2008, shows the conflict between the traditional White society and the Natives who are trying to reclaim their birthright and land.

I enjoyed this story which also includes characters from Syd's previous adventures who are trying to get over the events of that book. Syd is also married to Mal who is soon to have their baby which makes things even more complicated for her.

I liked the way history was woven into the story. show less