Review: Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie

Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via the Berkley Besties program and Netgalley, all opinions are my own.  

This is a fast paced mystery/thriller following Syd, an archeologist working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  She uncovers tribal artifacts and remains and returns them to their tribal leaders to ensure they are handled with care and proper burial rights are performed.  She is reassigned from her current regional work to one closer to her hometown in Oklahoma when remains are found with her internship ID attached to them.  Syd has no desire to go home and revisit the trauma from her past, but upon her return she finds that her sister is missing and things just aren't adding up when she starts asking questions.

Syd lives with a lot of survivor guilt and rage from a traumatic event that occurred when she was a child.  She is driven by a sense of justice and vengeance in her adult life because she couldn't stop what happened that awful night.  Her sense of justice helps her with her day  job, bringing lost things back to their rightful owners and lost souls back to their families so they can gain closure and peace.  When she goes home, however her rage and need for revenge take over and her ability to think rationally are kind of thrown to the wayside.  I had a hard time connecting with her on that front, but I've never been in that kind of situation.  I think it is hard to say what I would do if I lost a loved one like that or dealt with some of the things she had to deal with.

I thought this was a captivating and well written story.  I did find it hard to follow at times as there are many characters to keep track of.  I also thought there were too many plot points to keep track of., however the author did a good job brining things together in the end.   I do appreciate that this novel is base in reality and it is horrible that drugs, crime, and corruption plague the indigenous tribes.  This does have a more true crime feel to it, so if you enjoy thrillers based on true stories this is a great read.  

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