Shutter

Rita Todacheene works as a forensic photographer for the Albuquerque police. Her photographs close cases because she sees what other investigators miss. The reason is a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims, and they point her to the clues.

The gift costs her. Restless spirits use her as their only way back to the living, and they keep her from sleeping and wreck her relationships. Her grandmother raised her on the Navajo reservation, and the ability, which is taboo there, is what drove Rita away. It has left her isolated from friends and has brought her trouble with the law.

Then Rita is sent to photograph a supposed suicide on a highway overpass. The dead woman's ghost is furious and disoriented, and she insists she was murdered. She attaches herself to Rita and demands revenge on her killers. Pursuing it puts Rita in the sights of one of the most dangerous cartels in Albuquerque.

Shutter is a crime thriller with supernatural horror running through it, set in New Mexico and the Navajo Nation. It also follows Rita's coming of age on the reservation. The tone is dark and graphic, with suspense that builds as the danger closes in. The book was longlisted for the National Book Award.