Quick Synopsis

A visceral and compelling mystery about a Cherokee archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is summoned to rural Oklahoma to investigate the disappearance of two women… one of them her sister.

Publisher’s Synopsis

There are secrets in the land.

As an archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Syd Walker spends her days in Rhode Island trying to protect the land’s indigenous past, even as she’s escaping her own.

While Syd is dedicated to her job, she’s haunted by a night of violence she barely escaped in her Oklahoma hometown fifteen years ago. Though she swore she’d never go back, the past comes calling.

When a skull is found near the crime scene of her youth, just as her sister, Emma Lou, vanishes, Syd knows she must return home. She refuses to let her sister’s disappearance, or the remains, go ignored—as so often happens in cases of missing Native women.

But not everyone is glad to have Syd home, and she can feel the crosshairs on her. Still, the deeper Syd digs, the more she uncovers about a string of missing indigenous women cases going back decades. To save her sister, she must expose a darkness in the town that no one wants to face—not even Syd.

The truth will be unearthed.

Book Review

Blood Sisters is a compelling mystery that follows Syd, a Cherokee archaeologist, who is haunted by her past and has vowed never to return to Oklahoma. When a skull is found in her hometown, she is forced to return and face the events 15 years prior.

I cannot describe how pleasantly surprised I was with Blood Sisters. Not only was the plot complex, twisty, and full of surprises, the story is one of the best written mysteries or thrillers I have read. Lillie’s descriptions immersed me in 2008 Oklahoma without easing the pace. In fact, there were numerous times while reading Blood Sisters that I forgot where I really was. In addition to being immersive, the story is fast-paced and enthralling. My one criticism is I wanted more closer regarding Syd and her wife’s relationship. I am hoping that we will see Syd soon, and this will be resolved in a second book.

The characters in Blood Sisters are well-developed, particularly for a mystery/thriller book. I came to really know Syd and her sister and understand their motivations. I just wished that all of the characters were equally fleshed out. Regardless, I appreciated the strength and determination of the main characters and reveled in reading about unassailable women fighting for their communities and justice.

I loved Blood Sisters’ themes of sisterhood, family, community, and connection to the land. Lillie succeeds in crafting an enjoyable, engrossing mystery with depth while also discussing important issues facing Indigenous Americans. She manages to do all this without the story feeling preachy or heavy-handed. If you are not a fan of nonfiction but want to learn more about Native Americans’ lived experience in the U.S., Blood Sisters is a great introduction to a number of topics like missing and murdered Indigenous woman, girls, and two spirit; land rights; tribal government; and even NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items.

Overall, Blood Sisters is a captivating novel that will be one of my 2023 favorite books. So, I was super excited to discover that Blood Sisters is the first novel in a new mystery series focusing on MMIWG2S. Now, go read this book!

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