Halloween Bingo 2024
It's nice when your book club selection can also fill a square on your Bingo card. My fellow book clubbers don't always choose the same kind of mystery that I would, so liking this novel was another pleasant discovery. Lana, a shark of a real estate mogul, is fighting lung cancer and is reluctantly staying with her daughter Beth and granddaughter Jack while undergoing chemotherapy. Lana and Beth are both strong willed women, too alike in some ways to be able to get along easily. Both are single mothers and fiercely independent and have very different ideas of how to live. Jack is a quiet kid, who loves being out on the water of the slough near their home.
Lana is used to being very much in control. Chemo leaves her feeling weak and out of control. During a sleepless hour one night, she watches a man across the water dump a wheelbarrow load of something into the water. Shortly thereafter, Jack finds a body in the marsh while leading a regular kayak trip. They end up dealing with a detective who is willing to believe that Jack may be involved in the man's death, so Lana decides she must take control of the investigation.
It turns out that Lana's real estate expertise is very useful. The three women find they have various ties to the murdered man and a local land owner. When they can stop fighting with each other, they cooperate in assembling the clues. The family that they are observing are even more dysfunctional than they are.
The novel is a mystery, yes, but it is also very much about family relationships. For a first novel, it is admirable. I would be willing to read other books by this author if she produces them.
I read this book to fill the Amateur Sleuth square on my Bingo card.
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