Where They Last Saw Her

Title: Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Culture: Native American
Themes: Native American diaspora, womanhood, searching for the lost, perseverance

Native American women and their fight for survival

Release Date: September 3rd

Haunting, informative, and riveting, Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie Rendon captures you in the very first chapter with a scream that never lets you go. Quill has lived on the Red Pine reservation in Minnesota her whole life. She knows what happens to women who look like her. As she trains for the Boston Marathon early one morning out in the woods, she hears a scream. As Quill closes in on the truth about the missing women, someone else disappears. In her quest to find justice for all of the women of the reservation, she is confronted with the hard truths of their home and the people who purport to serve them.

Rendon exemplifies the Native American culture in all facets of the story. From the ease with which Crow and Quill track car tires and footprints to intentionality of the spirit plate of prayers for the safety of the woman’s screen Quill heard. She expertly navigates a history we have seen before – the devastation of land due to oil pipelines and the horrific events that occur when workers come into the territory – missing, trafficked and murdered Indian women.

With an easy to read, faced paced flow Where They Last Saw Her was quick page turner that moved through time quickly both past and present. This made it an enjoyable read for me and but I was careful to page close attention to the plot as there were details and clues that were crucial to the story that could easily be overlooked. I also liked that Rendon included so much informative and factual information about the Native American women and the continued trafficking and abuse they have endured throughout history and current day. Rendon sheds open and honest light on the troubling trend of trafficked native American women that truly should be at the forefront of everyone’s mind and encourage them to get involved in stopping these atrocities.

Of cultural significance, coffee is a recurring beverage that occurs throughout the book not only as a comforting source of warmth against cold Canadian winters but also a connection for people to come together or have difficult often thought-provoking conversations about life. Coffee serves as an intimate connection to the past and the present that Quill binds herself to as she navigates the troublesome and infuriating treatment and killing of indigenous women in her community. Coffee is a cultural and economic drink in Native American communities, specifically the fact that it is caffeinated. Native Americans have been drinking caffeinated beverages since 750 A.D. and today many coffee brands are owned by Native Americans and are roasted on reservations.

Calming Crow is how I would describe Crow – lovable male lead in this story. He presence provides a much needing calming and comforting effect that contrasts and slows the frenetic pace of the book and Quill’s frantic and impulsive personality.

Quills strong determination and perseverance gets her into a lot of trouble in order to find the truth about the missing women, but in the end, they are 2 of many things that keep her alive as she moves toward freedom. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, I had hoped that one of the missing women would have been found to give the story a level of completeness, but it does not deter me from recommending the book. I appreciate the direction the author decided to take by ending the book in this way.

I’m truly walking away with a new view of Native American women and Native American culture. I have learned a great deal from this book, even some Native American dialect and warrior cries. I highly recommend Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie Rendon if you looking for a mystery written from the Native American perspective.

Additionally, if you looking for more books written from this perspective I recommend Angeline Boulley’s The Firekeeper’s Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed as well as any book by Louise Erdrich.