Taking a break from her life as a lawyer in Chicago, Theodosia “Theo” Brantley decides to spend the summer of 1955 in Carlin, Louisiana visiting her southern relatives—and to see if she can possibly make a go of a new career as a photographer. But when her grandmother asks her to look into a mystery surrounding a girl who drowned in the Mississippi River nearly sixty years ago and then a dead body found in the same river is literally brought to her grandmother’s doorstep, Theo quickly realizes that her summer is not going to go at all like she planned.
With the help of some unlikely characters, old and young alike, Theo Brantley begins to realize that the more the town of Carlin comes into focus, the more it’s clear that things are not all as they appear to be.
CW – period racist terms are used, racism
Dear Ms. Susberry,
I picked this book on a whim and then realized that it probably relates back to another series that took place during WWII. Having read the author’s note, I can see that yes it does but as you wrote this one first, I’m not too worried about going back and reading them out of written order.
Theodosia Brantley needs a break from her law career and maybe a new start, period. Her choice to head to the family she has in Jim Crow Louisiana baffles her parents and siblings in Chicago but Theo feels she needs to get out of her comfort zone (note- she doesn’t use this phrase in the book). Waking up during her first night there, she realizes she might have gotten more than she bargained for. Soon she’s involved in trying to solve not one but two murders. One is almost 60 years old and the other victim is a young woman Theo had met on the train journey.
It’s worse than useless to involve the law as the dumb, racist sheriff is too lazy to do more than arrest the nearest colored (term used in the book) man, guilty or not. The other case is close to her grandmother’s heart and the answer might not be one Mama Opal wants to know. Theo is also bothered by the single father of two teens from the train. Ace Cobb is rude, outspoken, and looks a mess. But for some reason he sticks in Theo’s mind – maybe because his children Lizzy and Levi keep popping up in Theo’s life. Can they solve the recent murder before blame is cast on Theo’s family and is it possible to find the answer to the other after all these years?
Also from the author’s note, I agree that Louisiana doesn’t sound like a place where you can avoid the native fauna for long and if you aren’t fond of fauna, staying inside is a good choice. Too bad for Theo that she gets dragged outside a lot and has to swat away the flying insects and worry about alligators. She also gets a taste of how life is under Jim Crow. No, Chicago isn’t integrated but Theo is used to living and working in a colored neighborhood and not having it affect her much.
The decision that is made as to what to do with the body of the murdered woman appalls Theo but after having it explained exactly how much danger the local colored community would be in if the body to be found, she doesn’t speak up. The situation is a tangled mess and someone threatens to give the sheriff her grandmother’s name as a suspect if Theo can’t get to the bottom of things. Only as Theo and, reluctantly, Ace begin to dig into who knows what, where the woman went that day and who she saw, they realize a whole slew of possible suspects could have done it. Suddenly someone is ready to take the blame but Theo doesn’t think this person did it.
Enlisting Lizzy and Levi, or accepting that they’re going to help her anyway regardless of what is best, Theo also begins to search for older people who might know something about the 1890s death. Was it murder or just a drowning? Mama Opal won’t hear anything against her deceased husband who, along with other colored men of that post Civil War era, had to be hard to survive. After an encounter with the sheriff, Theo fully realizes the danger this community lives under all the time.
Theo is methodical about how she tries to solve both deaths. She is, after all, a lawyer. Ace isn’t thrilled to get roped into things but he knows that Someone could “go off” and tell the sheriff something. This really isn’t a murder mystery that can be cracked by the reader as some clues are only apparent or explained later on. But this didn’t bother me as I was enjoying watching Levi and Lizzy snark and snap at each other – as brothers and sisters do – as well as watching Theo get to know this little family. Poor Lizzy is especially in need of a woman to help her as her own white mother is far away. And this is an interesting twist that I hope gets more page time in the book series.
The racism is at times insidious and at other times “in your face awful.” It’s eye opening for Theo who now understands why her father left and won’t consider ever moving back. Theo, though deeply religious and prone to praying out loud, also isn’t a fan of the four hour long Sunday church services either. But the food? Oh yes, she loves that. There are a few grammar and word errors (commemorate for commiserate) but nothing that was enough to pull me out of the story. The start might be a touch slow as characters, relationships, and groundwork must be laid but by the end I was engrossed and zipping along to the end. B
~Jayne
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Jayne
Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there’s no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.
