Ultimately, Catching Teller Crow is a novel about grief and what it does to a person. The novel begins with the death of Beth Heller, a young woman who was cared for deeply by her father, Michael, a police detective. After her death, Beth becomes stuck between the spirit world and the living world. However, only Michael can communicate and see his dead daughter's spirit.
The story of Catching Teller Crow matches the typical stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and then acceptance. Michael initially denies his daughter's death because he can still see her and still can interact with each other as they work to investigate a mysterious fire at a local children's home for Indigenous children. Their investigation leads to the discovery of a potential witness to the fire, a woman named Isobel Catching. Michael speaks to Isobel, who constantly talks to him But together, and with Isobel's help, they start to uncover more about why the fire started and who started it.
As Michael and his daughter's spirit learn more about the horrific things that were done at the school, he starts to become angry. Angry that all of that was done to the innocent and helpless indigenous girls and angry about the situation he and his daughter's spirit are in. He is starting to accept that his daughter is gone but isn't happy about it.
Then, Michael starts the bargaining stage. He is starting to accept that the girls were kidnapped and killed by an evil cabal in their town and that his daughter is gone, and he is unable to save her. The girls, including Isobel, were brutalized by people he knew and trusted. But that doesn't mean Michael is going to accept the town's misdeeds. Still, he becomes incredibly depressed, knowing the weight of the situation: he lost his daughter, and the town he has served almost his entire life is corrupt, rotten to its core.
Ultimately, Michael brings everyone to justice, finally accepting the situation and the loss of his daughter, who leaves spiritual limbo and finally finds a place where she can stay forever. That acceptance turns into action: Michael cleans up the town he knows and loves and honors his daughter, showing that the entire story is an allegory for the stages of grief.
