In the follow-up to the National Book Award–longlisted Shutter, Navajo forensic photographer Rita Todacheene grapples with a fanatical serial killer—and the ghosts he leaves behind. A dual-voice cat-and-mouse thriller, told from the points of view of a killer who has created his own deadly religion and the only person who can stop him, an embattled young detective who sees the ghosts of his Native victims.
Do you love a good mystery/thriller novel that keeps you guessing from the first page to the last? Then these books by Native and Indigenous authors are for you! We’ve got everything from police procedurals to dangerous thrillers to irreverently funny mysteries to supernatural horror with dark secrets to uncover. Check out these excellent Native and Indigenous mysteries and thrillers with shocking twists you’ll never see coming.
Indigenous identities are, unfortunately, vastly underrepresented in traditional publishing. The good news is that this is (slowly) starting to change. The success of bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones has made a huge impact in creating space for Indigenous voices in horror, which has expanded into mysteries, thrillers, and other types of crime fiction and nonfiction. There’s still a lot of room to grow.
In this list, I include Indigenous authors from North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Northern Europe. While I would have loved to include more Indigenous mysteries and thrillers from other areas of the globe, many of these stories haven’t been picked up by major publishers or translated into English. We hope to see a wider array of Indigenous crime fiction on bookstore shelves in the near future. For now, we’ve got eight edge-of-your-seat mysteries and thrillers to add to your TBR.
Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie
This Oklahoma noir thriller stars a Cherokee archaeologist who can’t outrun the ghosts from her past any longer. After a traumatic childhood in rural Oklahoma, Syd Walker ran away to Rhode Island for a job working to preserve Indigenous artifacts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. But when a strange skull is found in her hometown at the same time her sister goes missing, Syd has no choice but to get involved. Syd makes for such a deeply complex and compelling protagonist that I’m absolutely dying to see her again in a sequel.
Better the Blood by Michael Bennett
Māori detective and single mother Hana Westerman takes on a big challenge when she investigates an Auckland crime scene that might just be the work of New Zealand’s first serial killer. As she tries to find the murderer before more people get hurt, the evidence leads Hana down a path that reveals more about her homeland’s dark, violent, colonial past. Written by award-winning Māori screenwriter Michael Bennett, Better the Blood has a rich, cinematic quality that grabs you right from the start.
Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon
Quill is out on a run on the Pine Hill Reservation in Minnesota, where she lives, when she hears a piercing, urgent scream. Sick and tired of Native American women going missing and never being found, Quill seeks out the source of the scream and finds tire tracks and a single beaded earring. Quill decides to take the mystery into her own hands, her focus immediately turning to the crew of pipeline workers north of her home. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more danger and disappearances occur. It’s a layered, powerful mystery about the epidemic of missing Indigenous women and girls.
Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius
Nine-year-old Elsa comes from generations of Sámi reindeer herders in the Arctic Circle, and their relationship with reindeer is both cultural and spiritual. So when Elsa witnesses a man violently killing a reindeer calf, his threats can’t stop her from seeking justice. But the local police tell Elsa and her father that they won’t do anything to stop it. A decade later, the violence against reindeer continues, and Elsa decides it’s time to take on the brutal, xenophobic hunters herself. Inspired by real events, it’s a powerful and gripping mystery set against a changing Scandinavian landscape.
Cold by Drew Hayden Taylor
It all starts with a strange plane crash in a frozen, isolated area of Canada. The Indigenous pilot and a journalist are the only survivors. A year later, that tragedy has spun into a tangled web of messy dramas: the journalist promoting her new memoir about the crash, a professor of Indigenous studies whose marriage is falling apart, an athlete in the Indigenous Hockey League worried his playing days are numbered, and a detective sorting through a string of murders. While their lives may seem disconnected, something beyond their understanding is pulling them together. Ojibway author Drew Hayden Taylor weaves together elements of First Nations mythology, thriller, police procedural, and horror, all with an excellent sense of humor.
White Horse by Erika T. Wurth
Kari has long managed to ignore the mystery of her mother’s disappearance, which happened when Kari was still a baby. Instead, she spends her days drinking at her favorite dive bar and listening to heavy metal with her urban Indigenous community in Denver. But when Kari’s cousin gives her a bracelet haunted by her mother’s ghost, she can no longer ignore the mystery that’s been hanging over her for her whole life. It’s an atmospheric, darkly funny mystery/horror with an irreverent protagonist you won’t forget.
The Things She’s Seen by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina
Since she died in a car crash at the age of 15, Indigenous Australian girl Beth has still been present, but only her detective father can see and hear her. Although her dad is still grieving, Beth is determined to help him move on by focusing on his next case: a fire at a children’s home that ended with an unidentified body and several missing adults. But when one of the fire’s witnesses can see Beth too, she realizes she has much more to say. This YA mystery by a sister-and-brother team of Palyku authors is a beautifully crafted, layered story about Indigenous erasure, grief, and healing.
Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina
For a twisty mystery and a haunting horror novel all wrapped up in one thrilling ride, read Nick Medina’s Indian Burial Ground. Noemi is envisioning a bright future for herself with her new boyfriend, Roddy, off the reservation where she grew up. Even better, her uncle Louie, who helped raise her, shows up after ten years away to participate in a powwow. But then Noemi is crushed to learn Roddy died in an accident that some are claiming was self-inflicted. Could Louie’s dark, complicated past help them find answers about Roddy’s death and the evil lurking on their land?
