Forensic photographer Rita Todacheene’s work has closed many cases for the Albuquerque police force, capturing details often overlooked at the crime scene in stunning detail. But Rita has a secret that allows her to see the clues that are overlooked: The ghosts of the crime victims point Rita in the right direction.
For all her life, Rita has been tormented by nagging ghosts. They won’t let her sleep and tear apart her personal life. Driven away from the Navajo reservation, this ability is both a blessing and a curse, leaving her friendless, even in trouble with the law.
Now it might get her killed.
Sent to photograph a suicide on a highway overpass, the confused and very angry ghost of the victim latches on the Rita, claiming her death wasn’t a suicide … it was murder. Rita’s quest for the truth puts her in the path of a dangerous cartel determined to tie up any and all loose ends.
Why we’re excited about this book:
Diné writer and filmmaker Ramona Emerson hails from Tohatchi, New Mexico. Starting in forensic videography, she’s worked as a photographer, writer, and editor. An Emmy nominee, a Sundance Native Lab Fellow, a Time-Warner Storyteller Fellow, and a Tribeca All-Access Grantee, Emerson was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Film and Media Industries for the State of New Mexico. Now calling Albuquerque home, Emerson and her husband Kelly Byars run Reel Indian Pictures. With her debut novel, Emerson presents an indigenous coming-of-age story blending forensics and the supernatural with a haunted heroine facing relentless evil. Kirkus Reviews says: “Emerson’s striking debut follows a Navajo police photographer almost literally to hell and back … A whodunit upstaged at every point by the unforgettably febrile intensity of the heroine’s first-person narrative.”, and Stuart Neville (The Ghosts of Belfast, The House of Ashes) says: “In her thrilling debut, Shutter, Ramona Emerson allows us a glance into not just one world, but many. Bridging the divide between a grounded procedural mystery and a paranormal thriller, this novel is a feast for fans of both genres and brings us a protagonist we’ll want to visit again and again.”
Forthcoming from Soho Crime on 2 August 2022, Shutter by Ramona Emerson is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA