The book's Native American characters and setting inevitably suggest comparison with Tony Hillerman's Navajo mysteries and Jean Hager's recently published Molly Bearpaw series. Hager's mysteries are also set in Oklahoma with Cherokee characters and a female Native American protagonist.

Jennifer Talldeer more closely resembles Hillerman's Jim Chee, however, in her ambition to become a shaman. Like Jennifer, Chee frequently uses his knowledge of tribal lore in solving seemingly mundane crimes. Unlike her, he has not yet had to battle evil beings on a supernatural plane. Hillerman's mysteries, with the same protagonists in an ongoing series, show more main character development and more about the cultural background.