RITA TODACHEENE, RAISED IN TOHATCHI, is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police. She also sees dead people. Both skills come in handy when she’s called to the scene of a grisly accident that took the life of a young woman—but was it an accident? In her propulsive debut novel, Shutter (Soho Crime), author Ramona Emerson, who also comes from Tohatchi, brings a contemporary Diné protagonist to brilliant life. Rita vibrates off the page with grit, vulnerability, and a set of keen observational powers that allow her to rise above violence, corruption, and family trauma. Here’s hoping her crime-solving career is a long one.
![Cover of Shutter by Ramona Emerson](https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/c_fill,h_430,q_75,w_640/v1/clients/nmmagazine/Shutter_81584cec-6a78-4192-bc4d-9903f073cf5f.jpg)
What We're Reading: Shutter
Author Ramona Emerson brings a contemporary Diné protagonist to life in this mystery-crime novel set in the Navajo Nation.
By Molly Boyle