5+ stars for Raven’s Grave by Charlotte Stuart #mystery #mustread #bookreview
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  • N. N. Light
    • Nov 2, 2023
    • 3 min read

5+ stars for Raven’s Grave by Charlotte Stuart #mystery #mustread #bookreview



Title: Raven’s Grave

Author: Charlotte Stuart

Genre: Mystery


Book Blurb:


★★★★★“A masterfully woven mystery... vivid and haunting.” Kathi Daley, USA Today Bestselling Author A young boy dies during a midnight ceremony. A fish buyer and $75,000 goes missing. And a runaway becomes the object of an Alaskan wilderness search. It is 1979 in a small native village in Alaska accessible only by boat. The local Tlingits continue to honor many traditions of the past, although increased contact with the outside world is accelerating a cultural shift. Caught in a slipstream of time, the village has become a curious blend of old and new. When a young boy dies from a potion that was supposed to cure his limp, all the evidence points to the teenage shaman as the killer. It is up to Jonah St. Clair, the only police officer in the village, to solve the murder and, at the same time, find the missing fish buyer. To do so, he must use both his police skills and his knowledge of the local culture. During his investigation, Jonah becomes prey and predator in a nighttime chase through the Alaskan wilderness and barely survives a rugged boat trip in dangerous waters. In the end, he not only apprehends a killer but discovers the bittersweet secret of the Raven’s Grave.


My Review:


In the midst of a small native remote village lies a killer but who is it? Raven’s Grave is a mystery unlike anything I’ve read before. The setting is a small village in 1979 Alaska. The townsfolk are native/indigenous with strong cultural beliefs. The world-building blends with descriptive narration in a moving story that will suck you right in. The mystery is the main plotline but there are minor storylines that interweave with it. I couldn’t put it down.


What makes Raven’s Grave such a compelling mystery is the narration. It’s descriptive, to be sure, but it’s so much more. Every scene is detailed with cultural nuances and folklore, so the reader is immersed in the story. It’s also emotional and full of intrigue. Well written and had me reading late into the night.


The mystery plotline is written with complexities so the more it unfolded, the more twists and turns appeared. As a voracious mystery reader, I found myself enthralled with the story. Charlotte Stuart brings sophistication and cultural relevance to the mystery genre.


The characters are easy to connect with, especially Jonah. Each character has their own voice and adds depth to the overall story. It’s these characters which make this a book worth reading.


My Rating: 5+ stars


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Author Biography:


Before Charlotte Stuart PhD started writing full time, she left a tenured faculty position to go commercial fishing in Alaska, spent a year sailing in the Washington and Canadian San Juans, was a partner in a management consulting group and a VP of HR and Training.


Her current passion is for writing character-driven mysteries with twisty plots that include diverse topics such as friendship and betrayal, hidden treasure, chimeras, commercial fishing, phobias, and survival groups. She has published nine mysteries since 2019 and recently received a 1st Place Series Award in the Chanticleer International Mystery & Mayhem competition for her Discount Detective Mysteries. She has won or been recognized in a number of contests, including making finals in Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion, Reader Views, and the Eric Hoffer Awards.


Charlotte lives and writes on Vashon Island in the Pacific Northwest and is the past president of the Puget Sound Sisters in Crime and a member of the Mystery Writers of America.


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Reviewed by: Nancy

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