Mysteries and Thrillers by Indigenous Authors

When a Native teenager vanishes from her small town — a place with dark ties to an elite historical society — archaeologist Syd Walker is called to investigate … from bestselling author Vanessa Lillie. Blood Sisters proves that the sins of the past are destined to repeat until the truth is finally unearthed.

A Native American first contact story and gripping thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse. Daniel H. Wilson’s Hole in the Sky is a riveting thriller in the most creative tradition of extraterrestrial fiction. Drawing on Wilson’s unique background as both a threat forecaster for the United States Air Force and a Cherokee Nation citizen, this propulsive novel asks probing questions about nonhuman intelligence, the Western mindset, and humans’ understanding of reality.

When a young girl goes missing, the ghosts of the past collide with her family’s secrets in a mesmerizing Native American Southern Gothic novel. Steeped in Indigenous folklore and drawing from the author’s own family history, If the Dead Belong Here examines what it means to be haunted — both by the supernatural and by terrors of our own making.

For fear of summoning evil spirits, Native superstition says you should never, ever whistle at night. A young man is haunted by a mythological specter bent on stealing everything he loves in this unsettling horror from the author of Indian Burial Ground and Sisters of the Lost Nation.

To find a missing young woman, ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr must rediscover herself. Devastated by her daughter’s death, Starr returns to her roots on a reservation where she is the new tribal marshal. In the past decade many young women have disappeared from the rez – some ending up dead while others are never seen or heard from again. Now, local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing. Starr falls into the investigation and must confront haunting memories of her daughter – the girl she couldn’t save – and the mysterious figure with the body of a woman and the antlers of a deer from her father’s stories. What she doesn’t know is whether Deer Woman is here to guide her or to seek vengeance for the lost daughters that Starr can never bring home.

Many Indigenous cultures warn against whistling at night, believing it summons malevolent spirits like the Hukai’po or Lechuza. These chilling tales explore ghosts, curses, and monstrous creatures, reflecting Indigenous peoples’ rich traditions and fears. Introduced by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, this collection celebrates Indigenous survival and creativity through stories of hauntings, family legacies, and the eerie consequences of a simple whistle. Featuring stories by Norris Black, Amber Blaeser-Wardzala, Phoenix Boudreau, and more.

When Mackenzie wakes with a severed crow’s head in her hands, she panics. Previously, she had been fighting off birds in a snowy forest, but the head vanishes when she blinks. Each night, her dreams return to a guilt-laden weekend at the family’s lakefront campsite before her sister Sabrina’s death. As ominous crows stalk her in the city and threatening texts from Sabrina’s number arrive, Mackenzie returns to her grief-stricken rural hometown in Alberta. Her reunion with her family only heightens her nightmarish experiences. As she unravels the connection between that night and Sabrina’s death, she wonders if the danger was inside her all along.

When 17-year-old Jimmy Hill vanishes at sea, his sister Lisamarie, a troubled teenager with a dark secret, embarks on a solo search. Through the Douglas Channel, she travels to Monkey Beach, known for sasquatch sightings. A captivating blend of teen angst, Haisla lore, nature spirits, and human emotions, set against the mystical backdrop of B.C.’s Coast Mountains, this story weaves together darkness and humor in a journey of loss and redemption.

Since her death, Beth Teller’s life has been a spectral limbo. Her grieving father is the only one who can see and hear her. Together, they tackle a new mystery in a remote Australian town that will hopefully remind Beth’s father that he needs to reconnect to the living. A suspicious fire has left an unidentifiable body and an unreliable witness who speaks in riddles. As Beth and her father delve into the case, they uncover a haunting, heartbreaking story revealing dark secrets beneath the town’s surface.

Quill has always lived on the Red Pine reservation in Minnesota, haunted by the memory of running for help when Jimmy Sky jumped off the railway bridge. Now training for the Boston Marathon, she hears a scream in the woods but finds only tire tracks and a beaded earring. With supportive friends and family, Quill is determined to investigate the recent disappearance of a woman, focusing on men working nearby. As she uncovers unsettling truths, more people vanish, forcing her to confront harsh realities and the trauma of being overlooked. Her quest for justice highlights the deep impact of crime and societal indifference.

In the small Ojibwe town of Geshig on the Languille Lake reservation, Marion Lafournier, a gay Ojibwe man, begins a secret romance with Shannon, a closeted white man. Amidst the challenges of their hidden relationship, Marion accidentally awakens the spirit of a dog while exploring dark streets. The spirit guides him to the grave of Kayden Kelliher, a murdered Ojibwe basketball star. Marion’s quest to uncover the truth behind Kayden’s death reveals deep family ties and an old Ojibwe legend that may solve the mystery.

Mae hasn’t been called Mud since she left her tribe. In Silicon Valley, she is known as Mae, a high-powered professional who abandoned her Kiowa roots. When she receives a cryptic message from her grandfather James Sawpole she returns home to her ancestral lands in what is now known as Oklahoma. There, she finds her tribe in turmoil — fracking damaging their lands, families selling artifacts, and threats against her grandfather over water rights. When he goes missing and is accused of stealing a valuable medal, Mud must unravel a web of theft, betrayal, and murder. As she investigates, she embarks on a vision quest fraught with deceit, greed, and danger.