The Familiar Dark by Amy Engel
Description
One of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2020 (Mystery/Thriller)
"From its gripping beginning to its sobering finale, Amy Engel's The Familiar Dark never fails to enthrall with surprising twists."–Associated Press
A spellbinding story of a mother with nothing left to lose who sets out on an all-consuming quest for justice after her daughter is murdered on the town playground.
Sometimes the answers are worse than the questions. Sometimes it's better not to know.
Set in the poorest part of the Missouri Ozarks, in a small town with big secrets, The Familiar Dark opens with a murder. Eve Taggert, desperate with grief over losing her daughter, takes it upon herself to find out the truth about what happened. Eve is no stranger to the dark side of life, having been raised by a hard-edged mother whose lessons Eve tried not to pass on to her own daughter. But Eve may need her mother's cruel brand of strength if she's going to face the reality about her daughter's death and about her own true nature. Her quest for justice takes her from the seedy underbelly of town to the quiet woods and, most frighteningly, back to her mother's trailer for a final lesson.
The Familiar Dark is a story about the bonds of family—women doing the best they can for their daughters in dire circumstances—as well as a story about how even the darkest and most terrifying of places can provide the comfort of home.
My Review
Filled with grit and toughness this was an amazing read.
Eve's resilience and extraordinary drive to find out who killed her daughter, while having to face hard men in the face without backing down in order to get what she wanted didn't seem like an easy thing to do. She put herself in harms way, turned love away, stared her demons toe-to-toe was inspiring.
As women we often shrink down to what men think we should be and reading how Eve not only grew up in a tough home with a mother who wasn't exactly the best gave me hope. If Amy can create such a character there's no reason why we can do the same as Eve.
Most often mothers will bare their teeth and show their claws when their children are threatened, only Eve didn't have that choice. Her daughter taken from this earth way too soon gave her the gumption to do whatever it took to take and eye for an eye. Normally, I wouldn't agree with this methodology but in this case, with this book, it totally worked.
You will not believe who the killer is when it's finally revealed and I loved that most about Amy's writing. She kept hidden the most important part until it slams you in the face and you're left wondering what you missed.
Bravo!!