LISTENING TO: 'Locust Lane' by Stephen Amidon

In the exclusive community of Emerson, MA, there's been a murder on Locust Lane. The victim is an outsider, a beautiful young woman not from the community whose ties to it are very loose. In a relatively short period, police find their suspect who—to the mother of the dead girl, and an Emerson local who has reason to be skeptical—seems way too convenient to be the culprit. Adding to their skepticism is the fact that the best witnesses against the suspect are from two very solid Emerson families, the kinds of people who are almost automatically given the benefit of every doubt and who may themselves have quite a bit to hide.

The character development in this book was exceptional, the pace flawless and the underlying plot very tightly woven. It was also a really great exploration of class, race and privilege without overt preachiness. The author left a lot of room for moral ambiguity-no one was fully demonized, nor were there any angels, which made it difficult to wish for a specific outcome, or even to know which outcome to wish for. This is the highest order of domestic suspense, with beautiful, simple (but not simplistic) clear-as-a-bell writing.

I listened to this one rather than read it (thanks, NetGalley!) and the narrator (Cassandra Campbell) was EXCEPTIONAL. Voicing male and female characters, her delivery of the prose as well as dialogue was perfection. With books as good as this one, I generally get impatient for my next opportunity to listen to the audiobook and want to read the rest in bed or something, but in this instance, I genuinely looked forward to the narration so didn't make the choice to read any of it.

Highly recommended, for those who like their domestic suspense closer to the literary side, and who enjoy solid narration. This one comes out in January 2023. Get it here.

My rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑