Paperback Reader

Carson Lynch was once a well-respected journalist living in Miami with her husband and young daughter. However, when her daughter is murdered, she falls into a bottle. Her marriage self-destructs, she gets fired from her job, and she heads back home to Biloxi, Mississippi. She’s not there so much to lick her wounds, as she is to crawl into a hole. Vodka is her new best friend, and the only paper crazy enough to hire her is of the tabloid variety.

As luck would have it, she sobers up long enough to land a story that could jump-start her dead career. A notorious nightclub is getting torn down, and while digging up the parking lot they uncover a mass grave. Five skeletons, all female, all with their left ring fingers missing. Quick sleuthing determines the girls have been there for over 20 years, and Carson hits the ground running. The district attorney wants her help on the case, although the lead detective would rather get in bed with a pack of rabid raccoons. Carson’s journalistic instincts kick in, although the good story quickly turns into a nightmare.

Another girl is murdered, her fresh corpse found naked on a pier. She’s wearing a bridal veil and her ring finger is missing. Who is stalking the young women of Biloxi? And is this a copycat or a serial killer back from a 20-year vacation?

Haines has written an interesting novel, in that it defies genre classification. Certainly, it is a suspense novel, but there are other elements in play here that make for fascinating reading. Carson is a woman bent on self-destruction, but failing at it because she’s too smart. She wants to live more than she wants to die, even if she is unable and unwilling to admit it to herself. She has a complicated relationship with her mother and sister, is haunted by her daughter’s death, still in love with her ex-husband, but attractive and vulnerable enough to peak curiosity in other men. There’s the district attorney, and an old high school beau coming off a bad divorce vying for her attention.

That’s not to say we have a classic romantic suspense novel here. The romance is extremely light, and readers do not have an inkling of who the “hero” is supposed to be until the final chapter. No, this is more a women’s fiction novel with a gory serial killer thread running through it. It’s about Carson, her relationships, and her crawling out of the hole she put herself in. It’s about her interactions with interested men, her coworkers, and her family. It’s the crime story that wakes her up, and it’s the suspense that gets her moving in the right direction.

I could not put this book down. It had everything that I truly enjoy in genre fiction. An interesting suspense thread, damaged characters, and redemption at the end. Readers looking for romance will likely be disappointed, but suspense fans should find a lot to like here. There’s no indication that Haines plans to continue with a series featuring Carson Lynch, girl reporter, but here’s hoping she does. She’s an interesting, colorful character with plenty of baggage, a host of interesting secondary characters around her, and an intriguing, Southern gothic backdrop in which she gets to play. Please Ms. Haines, may I have some more?

You can learn more about Carolyn Haines here and buy Revenant here or here.