Read as part of CBR16Bingo: scandal. The main character is on the run to this small town after a fiasco in her past life and has to deal with a fiasco in her current one.
I grabbed this one maybe because of Ted Lasso? I don’t remember but I feel like I read somewhere that this was pitched as a Ted Lasso-esque coach solving a mystery.
That’s not really the case though. Clementine Jones, though she is similarly running from her past, is not the Human Teddy Bear that is Ted Lasso. And it’s Aussie Rules Football, not soccer. Ausball’s a fun sport! I played a version of it in the States!
But I digress. This book is very good. It works well as both an examination of race and class in a small town and a readable page-turning mystery with an imperfect protagonist in the middle. I do think Sarah Thornton maybe took too long to get to Clementine Jones’ backstory; don’t let it fester while we’re trying to solve the actual mystery unless it’s related to the mystery! We would have been better off from a narrative stand point not knowing.
Yet that’s a quibble. This book is good. A nice, tightly written tale with interesting characters, a momentous plot and a satisfying resolution.
I’m kind of bummed this is a series as I think it works perfectly as a standalone. But it’s clear that Sarah Thornton has talent. Not sure how available she is in the States but I wouldn’t mind picking up another one of hers.