MRC RECOMMENDS: Raven’s Legacy by Charlotte Stuart
“A book that intrigues the mind and captures your imagination.” – The Mystery Review Crew
Raven’s Legacy
By Charlotte Stuart
Genre: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Suspense
Tlingit artifacts. A wounded bear. And a skeleton with a secret.
Irreplaceable Tlingit artifacts, including a 15’x 8’ spruce Raven House screen, are stolen from a native village in Alaska in 1980. Their only police officer, Jonah St. Clair, investigates the theft and the disappearance of a local man who may have been involved. At the same time there’s a wounded grizzly on the loose and an archeologist unearths the bones of a slave, a relic the villagers prefer to leave buried.
When one of the thieves absconds with most of the artifacts as well as the $500,000 paid for them, the others are determined to get both the artifacts and the money back. They threaten and assault several locals they suspect are connected to the betrayal. Can Jonah outwit the thieves before violence escalates? Can he recover the lost artifacts before they vanish forever?
In Tlingit legend, Raven was the cunning trickster whose mischief often led to trouble and disastrous shortcuts. Despite his flaws, he remained the symbol of hope, forgiveness, and sacrifice. But in this story, Raven’s legacy is shrouded in betrayal, revenge, and death.
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Review of Raven’s Legacy by Charlotte Stuart
It is not often that a mystery book is quotable or leaves the reader with a more profound thought to ponder; however, Author Charlotte Stuart did just that in Raven’s Legacy.
“There needed to be an open conversation about the relationship between past and present, about what it meant to remember the past while going through a time of rapid change.”
Raven’s Legacy takes us to a small Alaskan town through its rich Tlingit culture, with the burning question being whether historical legacy is worth killing over.
The main character, Jonah St. Clair, is a former LA police officer with deep ties to Koloshan, Alaska. As the town’s only policeman, his job is often filled with things most “city” cops wouldn’t even think of, like hunting down a bear, searching for ‘lost’ tribal artifacts, drinking good coffee, and following muddy footprints.
Author Charlotte Stuart did an excellent job of giving us a unique view of Jonah’s life in Koloshan, adding side characters (our favorite being spunky Jenny! Does she get a story too?) that helped bring the small community to life. Weaving in multiple plausible suspects that left us with an ending you probably wouldn’t guess.
It was fascinating that Charlotte Stuart brought in some traditional Tlingit cultural stories to help get the mystery into focus and open Jonah’s eyes to a reality he didn’t want to face. Her descriptions of the Raven screen were detailed enough that I could envision it right in front of me. Raven’s Legacy is best described as a book that intrigues the mind and captures your imagination. The vivid descriptions of the town of Koloshan and its surrounding nature, the clues that pile up, and the more profound cultural questions leave you wanting to read all night to discover what happens next. It was medium-paced and read like a cross between a cozy mystery and a suspense novel.
After reading Raven’s Legacy, we can’t wait to see what Charlotte Stuart comes up with next.
About Charlotte Stuart, PhD
In a world filled with uncertainty and too little chocolate, Charlotte Stuart has a passion for writing lighthearted mysteries with a pinch of adventure and a dollop of humor. She has also published two traditional mysteries set in Alaska that emphasize locale and culture. Her mysteries have won numerous awards, including a first place in the Chanticleer International Mystery & Mayhem Series Awards. She has twice been a NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite, won a Global Book Award gold, a Reader Views silver, and was a Silver Falchion and Eric Hoffer finalist.
She began her career in academia with a PhD in communications. Then, she and her husband decided to build a commercial boat and go fishing for salmon in Alaska. Currently, she lives and writes on Vashon Island in Washington State’s Puget Sound.
Visit Charlotte Stuart at https://charlottestuart.com/
