Syd Walker is living in Rhode Island in 2008, working as an archeologist for the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs). While the BIA was initially responsible for great damage to America's Indigenous people, including forced assimilation and annexation of Native land, the Bureau was working to better serve these communities. Syd, who is Cherokee, left her homeland and her family in Oklahoma unable to deal with an abduction 15 years earlier, which resulted in the murder of her best friend Luna and Luna's parents. The BIA summons Syd back when a skull is found with a message clearly meant for her. Syd's sister, Emma Lou, has just gone missing, joining a list of other local Indigenous women who had disappeared from the area. The police treated the women as runaways with no serious investigations taken. Once Syd returns and searches for her sister, who had been battling addiction, she has to also face the trauma of her past and many well-hidden secrets.
Blood Sisters is an intense, suspenseful mystery. Author Vanessa Lillie has created a complex character in Syd Walker, who has been battling her own demons. This is a heartbreaking story as although it is fiction, it tells the true history of the terrible and unjust treatment of Indigenous communities. The injustices done by the very people whose jobs it was to protect our Native people is beyond disturbing. In addition to a compelling story, it will surely tell you more than you knew before about American history.
Many thanks to Berkley Publishing for an advance copy of this engaging and eye-opening book.
Rated 4.25 out of 5 stars.
Mystery | Suspense.
Publication Date: October 31, 2023.
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