Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review.
So many thoughts, where to start. How about that cover? I love it, but questionable marketing. Not sure it conveys the tone of the story! Which is not horror, and is not cozy at all. There are definitely legions of cats in the story, but they are in the background. So, I am conflicted. (The town is overrun with stray cats, due to a local commercial series years before featuring kittens; everyone got a kitten after, and then everyone didn’t keep or care for their kittens, so now cats are everywhere.) I also am conflicted because even though the cover doesn’t really convey mystery/suspense, it is unique and sets itself apart from the crowd. So actually maybe it’s genius, what do I know. I definitely read it because of the cover.
Okay but what about the story? I liked it! Our MC is Dolores, who left her infamous hometown eighteen years before and has never been back, and never exchanged more than an an unsigned birthday card with her family in the years since. (Her hometown is a famous Halloween tourist destination, but again, that’s sort of background, not the focus.) Dolores is now a well-respected prominent forensic pathologist who often gives testimony at trial. The plot kicks off when she gets a call from the FBI saying that her father—the former mayor of her town and a former Senator—is missing. The reason that Dolores left is unraveled over the course of the novel, but you get hints right away. Pretty much right away after her unwelcome homecoming, there is a murder, and Dolores is sucked in to the investigation. The plot goes from there.
As with the cover, I am also conflicted about the fact that I figured out all but one part of the mystery, which is very unusual for me. I can’t decide if I’m proud that I’m smart, or mad that it was too easy (I guessed a lot of it before I was even halfway through the book). Usually I err on the side of “this wasn’t good if I could figure it out,” but with this one for some reason I’m giving it more credit. Maybe it’s because the book was also pretty thematically rich, and the only reason for reading it wasn’t to find out what was going on and whodunnit, but to follow Dolores’s emotional journey, and to see where it leads her.
All that said, this was really good, and I’ll definitely read more from this author. I also kind of hope this isn’t the last we see of Dolores.
CBR BINGO: Free Space (in place of border because I couldn’t find a book I wanted to read for that square)
