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A review by claudiaslibrarycard
The Night Flowers by Sara Herchenroether
dark
emotional
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The Night Flowers is a lovely and haunting mystery told from multiple perspectives. In 1983, a couple out hiking in New Mexico tumbled down a hill only to knock over barrels that contained human remains. The science revealed the woman and two girls may have been dead for up to twenty years at that point. And the case went unsolved.
About thirty years later, Jean is a cop near retirement who has transferred to the cold cases department. Intent on identifying Jane Doe and the girls, Jean starts looking into the old records but pieces are missing. Across the country in New Haven, MA, Laura is facing her final round of surgery for breast cancer and researching Jane Does is part of how she distracts herself from her own trauma. When Laura begins to piece things together from websites and online records, Jean and Laura's stories converge.
Interspersed with short chapters from the point of view of the murdered woman, this story is haunting and beautiful in how it focuses on the women- not the male(s) that committed the violence. I am blown away by this debut and gutted that there is no backlist for me to read through while waiting for
About thirty years later, Jean is a cop near retirement who has transferred to the cold cases department. Intent on identifying Jane Doe and the girls, Jean starts looking into the old records but pieces are missing. Across the country in New Haven, MA, Laura is facing her final round of surgery for breast cancer and researching Jane Does is part of how she distracts herself from her own trauma. When Laura begins to piece things together from websites and online records, Jean and Laura's stories converge.
Interspersed with short chapters from the point of view of the murdered woman, this story is haunting and beautiful in how it focuses on the women- not the male(s) that committed the violence. I am blown away by this debut and gutted that there is no backlist for me to read through while waiting for
Sara Herchenroether's next book.
If you like a mystery with multiple perspectives and a past timeline, strong and flawed female characters, and a wrap up that's clean but not too tidy, The Night Flowers delivers all of that and then some.
If you like a mystery with multiple perspectives and a past timeline, strong and flawed female characters, and a wrap up that's clean but not too tidy, The Night Flowers delivers all of that and then some.