What would you do if you believed you murdered your best friend? That is the question Lucy Chase has been asking herself for the last five years. Before rebuilding her life in Los Angeles, Lucy Chase was labeled a murderer by the residents of her hometown for the slaying of her best friend, Savvy Harper, after wandering the town soaked in her blood. Only two people really know what happened that fateful night; one cannot remember the events, and the other is dead. Enter Ben Owens, the charming and handsome true crime podcast host who is trying to find the truth. Lucy returns to her small, Southern hometown to assist in getting justice for her best friend. Even if it means remembering things she doesn’t want to remember. Even if it means realizing she’s the killer.
Tag: Thriller
Sharyn McCrumb, The Unquiet Grave
This novel proved to be a very different beast of a crime book. Ghosts, murderers, and coverups, oh my! There’s a lot about this novel that screams quintessential southern murder mystery. Taking place post-Civil War in Appalachian mountain towns and based on the true story of Zona Heaster, otherwise known as the Greenbriar Ghost, this novel approaches difficult topics with grace and respect for both the victim and family.
Mary Jane Heaster does not like “Trout” Shue from the moment she learns about him. When her beloved daughter marries him almost immediately after meeting him, she is right to worry. Continue reading “Sharyn McCrumb, The Unquiet Grave”
Donald Ray Pollock, The Devil All the Time
Good people rarely have happy endings.
The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock is a deliciously repulsive collection of stories that showcases what truly desperate people do at their lowest point. Pollock’s historical thriller is constructed in seven separate parts, each with its own characters and decade, all taking place in rural Ohio. This novel is filled with horror, gore, and depravity, making it unsuitable for those with a weak stomach. The characters span from a serial-killing couple to a psychotic, sacrificial preacher, and while the book does bounce from person to person, it also follows one main character. Pollock loosely traces the life of Arvin, the traumatized protagonist, from birth to adulthood, detailing the horrors he witnesses and endures.
Continue reading “Donald Ray Pollock, The Devil All the Time”
David Joy, Those We Thought We Knew (2023)
“What happens when the people you’ve always known turn out to be monsters, what do you do when everything you ever believed crumbles away?”
David Joy’s Those We Thought We Knew follows a young Black artist from Atlanta named Toya who returns to her home in the Appalachian Mountains in order to trace her history and unveil the systemic bigotry present even in the most unexpected people.
Through alternating perspectives throughout the novel, the reader gets to know, and ultimately trust, the inhabitants of Sylva, North Carolina. Some of the more significant characters include Sheriff John Coggins, the upstanding yet proud pillar of law enforcement and long-time friend of Toya’s grandfather; detective Leah Green, who appears later in the novel to solve one of its tragic crimes; and my personal favorite, Vess, Toya’s anxiously devoted grandmother. The reader slowly learns about the story’s events through the independent knowledge and experiences of each character. However, we additionally get to feel sympathetic toward or even betrayed by some of them in a way that mirrors how the characters feel about one another.
The novel’s Southern mountainous setting is brimful with Confederate monuments, corrupted government officials, and hatred-driven cults many would expect to accompany a small, rural community in the South. Whether the reader has been a part of these communities themselves, or identifies with Toya’s perspective on the community as an outsider, Joy allows everyone to be enveloped in the dynamics of this town. I got a clear mental image of each character while reading—their appearance, their voice, and their personality—as if I know them myself. Continue reading “David Joy, Those We Thought We Knew (2023)”