Shutter

Read this one as audiobook.

It was okay. The best parts were the flashbacks - the stories of Rita’s upbringing and experiences learning about her gift. There’s a lot of emphasis on the fact that being around death and being Navajo are somehow incompatible - I don’t know the context for that but it introduced a unique tension to Rita’s life.

The present day story was the more boring bit. Very standard dirty cop situation. For much of the book no progress is made with it - you just have ghost Irma hassling Rita to do something about it over and over again.

Like many others, I do want to note that the beginning chapter is very strong. Graphic imagery that leaves you pretty grossed out, but it loses that intensity pretty quickly.

I feel like there was a missed opportunity here to do more with Rita’s ghost connections. In most cases the ghosts were just… annoying. I wish something more happened with that aspect of the story.

Rita Todacheene works for the Albuquerque police, the only job she could find where she could could use her talent for photography. She takes pictures of crime and accident scenes, which is complicated for a Navajo woman. Traditionally, if you're Dine, you don't want to spend time around dead people. But even before she began work as a forensic photographer, Rita spent time with the dead. Despite the best efforts of a traditional healer, she sees them, she talks to them, she tries to avoid those who wish her harm. returnreturnErma has other plans. She wants to know what happened to her, and won't let Rita rest until she knows who tossed her off that highway overpass to her death. Given her rage and persistence, and learning that she had a connection to a drug cartel, Rita concludes this is one of the bad ghosts, but the only way to stop her is to find enough evidence to persuade the police that it wasn't a suicide, that something bad is going on and it involves the police. returnreturnThis quest is interleaved with Rita's childhood and youth on the rez, her relationship with her grandmother and often-absent mother, and the cameras that formed her view of the world since she was five years old. returnreturnDon't let the paranormal aspects of the plot put you off. This is a beautifully told mystery that moves smartly and yet doesn't sacrifice character, setting, or narrative art for plot. Nor is the ghostly theme culturally appropriative. The author is a Dine filmmaker and she anchors everything in Navajo culture while briskly telling a dramatic tale. She also displays deep knowledge of the Albuquerque scene and police practice - as well as photography. returnreturnMy one criticism is the gruesomeness of the opening chapter, where we see the remains of Erma's body scattered across a highway through the lens of Rita's camera as she takes hundreds of forensic photos. I nearly put it down after a few pages because it was so gory, and that would have been a mistake. It wouldn't hurt to skip past it.