Raven Talks Back

by Beth Anderson

Raven Morressey is living the good life. Nice home, husband, three healthy children, and it's finally summertime, when life is again lovely in Valdez, Alaska. All this explodes one morning when builders, digging up her back yard, uncover a recently murdered headless, handless female body covered with scarification—hundreds of colored designs cut into the skin to resemble tattoos. As if this isn’t enough, where the corpse’s head should have been is a large rock with a face painted on that resembles an Alaska Native mask.
Raven's eight year old son, Timmy, is the first one to see the body and is suddenly unable to walk or respond in any way. On that same day, Raven hears the voice of her long dead Athabascan father coming from Timmy, who is unaware of the ancient hunting chants he sings in his sleep and the words he suddenly speaks in Raven’s native tongue—a language he does not know.
Jack O’Banion, Valdez’s Chief of Police for the past few years, faced with his first murder case in Valdez, begins his official investigation. Everywhere he goes he finds nothing but deception. The town seems to have closed into itself and nobody will tell him anything that might help him solve this case. Then one murder quickly morphs into two, then three, and the Alaska State Troopers are hot on his back to find the killer now.
Between Raven’s voices and the visions she develops, and Jack, whose career as well as his contented life in Valdez are on the line, they both feel they have to find the killer and restore some sanity to the town—not to mention their own lives, which are quickly unraveling out of control.

Genres: Mystery

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 25, 2011

About the author

Also wrote as Elizabeth Anderson

Reviews

[Polly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Raven Talks Back. This terrific mystery combines elements of the mystical with good old-fashioned storytelling. The discovery of a headless, handless body found in Raven Morrissey's backyard starts a series of events that change her and her family's life forever. Her son is traumatized into silence, her husband's attitude is perplexing, and Raven thinks she losing her mind when she sees and hears things she couldn't possibly see and hear. Adding to the town's upheaval, two more similar murders occur within a short period of time. There's no shortage of suspects when it's discovered that a few people in the small, picturesque town of Valdez, Alaska, are not who they seem to be.

Local police chief, Jack O'Banion, left Dallas to escape the stressful effects of murder and mayhem, and now he's confronted with crimes so heinous, he's having trouble finding the thread that ties them together. The townspeople pressure him to find the killer, and as if that wasn't enough weighing on the cop, he can't get the beautiful, but married, Raven out of his mind, and his heart.

Surprises galore, including a couple of side plots--I believe there should always be at least two plots in a book--make this a captivating read from beginning to end. Highly recommended.

[Jacqueline Seewald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raven Talks Back is a well-written contemporary mystery thriller. The setting is a town in Alaska and the time is summer. The author introduces Raven Morressey, writing first-person, alternating chapters with Police Chief Jack O’Banion in third person point of view. This works effectively because Raven isn’t seeing her life as others do. Raven wants to dwell only on the positive aspects of her life with her husband Red and their three children. When the body of a woman, headless and handless, is found in Raven’s backyard, Raven begins hearing voices and having visions. She is an Alaskan native by heritage and believes the murder has somehow triggered a psychic connection to her ancestors. Two more gruesome murders occur in short order. Raven and Jack’s lives are dramatically changed by what each finds out regarding the suspects. This book will hold the reader’s interest from beginning to end.

I have recently had the enjoyment of reading a number of mystery novels from small presses that are quality books neglected by major reviewers, and this is one I would recommend.

[Ellis Vidler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raven Talks Back has a beautiful, lyrical opening that captures the mood of the Alaskan setting and draws you right in. Raven is a good character who gains strength as she finds her way through the mystery, her life, and her own shattered dreams. All the characters are deep and layered, people you can believe in even if you don't always like some of them. But the setting is magnificent. Ms. Anderson lets you breathe the air and smell the fresh pines in the wind. Her descriptions, which are never overdone, let you see Valdez through the characters' eyes. I didn't guess whodunnit till late in the book. There are plenty of red herrings with good motives, but the clues are there--I just didn't spot them till near the end. This is a good read, and I loved it. I think this is the beginning of a new series. I'm ready for the next one.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! I hope there are more featuring Rave and Jack.

[Carolyn Rose]

It was nice to learn more about Valdez, Alaska, than I knew from reading about that oil spill. I was intrigued by the supernatural/spiritual elements that played a part in solving three grisly murders.

[John Hanscom · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a mystery, it was OK, and she certainly knew Vadez AK well, but she had the Native population as Yu'pik, which is a group of "Eskimo," rather than Chugachmiut, a group of Athabascan, which leads me to wonder about some of her other cultural references. I was disappointed.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good characters, atmosphere, mystery. one of the best mysteries that I've read recently. Thanks to DorothyL for pointing me to it.