Rough Surface

It’s late summer of 1980, and the dead body of Candi Rough Surface is found on the banks of the Missouri River. Her killer isn’t found, and as a Lakota Sioux, the white police investigating her murder don’t care about solving the case. 15 years later, Jen Olson begins her first day of work as a reporter for North Dakota newspaper The Bismarck Tribune. She’s bright, curious, and interested in telling stories about people. As she gets her feet wet in the news business and befriends fellow reporter Troy, Jen wonders if she’ll ever write anything memorable. She’s also grappling with her sexuality, and she isn’t ready to come out as a lesbian. A tip from the police alerts her to the murder of Candi Rough Surface, and the possibility that the killers may have been found. Jen begins to investigate, and she travels to the Standing Rock Reservation to meet the Rough Surface family. There, she learns more about Candi, about the grinding poverty the Lakota live in, and their struggle to seek justice for Candi. Jen learns about Nicholas Scherr and James Stroh, a pair of white men on trial for the murder. As she investigates further, she slowly pushes away Alix, a young woman she’s gotten involved with. As the trials of Scherr and Stroh begin, Jen finds herself under pressure to piece together the life of Candi Rough Surface, the events of her murder, and the aftermath. Rough Surface follows the journey of Jen Olson to make a real difference and honor the memory of a girl who’s been forgotten.