Eight stars
First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, S.K. Waters, and CamCat Books for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.
Debut thrillers can be highly exciting, especially if they author puts all their effort into the publication. S.K. Waters appears to have done just that in this mystery, which held my attention all the way through to the closing pages. A great piece that mixes mystery with history and a little personal struggle. Waters peppers the piece with exciting plot lines and provides a strong protagonist to lead the way. An exciting read that has me hoping S.K. Waters has more to offer soon.
Abbie Adams has a been through a great deal in the last number of years. A single mom after her husband's death, Abbie is left to raise two teenagers on her own. When she is offered the chance to dabble into the world of journalism, this historian leaps at the opportunity to dig a little deeper into a local cold case from 1969. As Abbie starts peeling back the murder of a black woman who was breaking barriers at the local college, she discovers that Frank Wexler it at the heart of it. Wexler has long been on Abbie's 'dislike' list, ever since, as her faculty advisor, he helped ruin her academic career by squashing her PhD thesis defence. The Wexlers are tangentially involved in the victim's life and using their power to stay mum on the subject.
While she has been busy piecing things together, Abbie's college friend, Joss, arrives in Alabama in search of a new idea to pitch for a history program. Joss is working in the Civil War era, but stumbles upon something that could help Abbie with her own investigative work. Just as Abbie appears to be making some headway, witnesses who remember the event begin being killed, as if someone is trying to silence them and keep the murder from ever seeing the light of day.
With strong Southern themes pulsing through the mystery, Abbie will have to work all the angles to see if Frank Wexler, a young college student in 1969, might be holding onto a secret and how that could turn the tides for all involved. With a new cop in town trying to prove himself and bodies piling up, Abbie Adams will have to use her intuition to stay one step ahead of the killer and push through the muck of historical norms to get to the truth and help solve the case. Waters proves she has what it takes with this gripping debut novel.
To say that this book pulled me in would be an understatement. I have long enjoyed novels that mix mystery with history and S.K. Waters did that with such ease. Her ability to construct a strong foundation helped push the story along, adding just the right amount of history to a story that is rich with so many themes. The characters prove well-founded and provide insight into this small Alabama community and all the secrets it has been harbouring for decades. The subtle banter between Abbie and Joss begs more exploration, as does Joss' own journey. Plot twists abound in a piece that seeks not only to present a mystery, but also push societal norms of the time as the civil rights movement was at its boiling point. Waters kept me wondering and I wanted more, which I hope will come in the form of a second series novel or a new standalone. Now, to wait (im)patiently until then!
Kudos, Madam Waters, for a great novel and a story that kept me up well into the evening to read!
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