by Nicole Baart
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads: Juniper Baker had just graduated from high school and was deep in the throes of a summer romance when Cal and Beth Murphy, a childless couple who lived on a neighboring farm, were brutally murdered. When her younger brother became the prime suspect, June’s world collapsed and everything she loved that summer fell away. She left, promising never to return to tiny Jericho, Iowa.
Until now. Officially, she’s back in town to help an ill friend manage the local library. But really, she’s returned to repair her relationship with her teenage daughter, who’s been raised by Juniper’s mother and stepfather since birth—and to solve the infamous Murphy murders once and for all. She knows the key to both lies in the darkest secret of that long-ago summer night, one that’s haunted her for nearly fifteen years.
As history begins to repeat itself and a dogged local true crime podcaster starts delving into the murders, the race to the truth puts past and present on a dangerous collision course. Juniper lands back in an all-too-familiar place with the answers to everything finally in her sights, but this time it’s her daughter’s life that hangs in the balance. Will revealing what really happened mean a fresh start? Or will the truth destroy everything Juniper loves for a second time? Baart once again brilliantly weaves mystery into family drama in this expertly-crafted novel for fans of Lisa Jewell and Megan Miranda.
Kritters Thoughts: Two storylines, one in the current day and one fourteen years ago as the details emerge on one fateful July 4th night as a couple is murdered and maybe the mystery will finally be solved all these years later.
I absolutely loved that there were two plot lines and I think they weaved in and out of each other so well with the chapters labeled, it was easy to know as the reader where and when we were and it was so interesting to watch an author unfold the mystery with such precision. While I may have predicted a few things a little on the early side, I still enjoyed the ride the author provided and watching the characters pick up on the solution to the mystery.
This book also had another theme that I love and that is when a character returns to small town for one reason or another and must confront the past. I loved watching Juniper return home and having to see the demons and is determined to get everything right.
I have read quite a few of Nicole Baart's books, but still have a few in the backlist that I need to read. I hope that there are many more to come from this author!
Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row
Ebook 2021 Challenge: 134 out of 100
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of this book free of charge from Atria Books. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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