The God of the Woods set a high bar as my first book of the year. I loved it. 

It’s August 1975. 2 months into the summer at Camp Emerson, Barbara Van Laar goes missing. But Barbara isn’t just any summer camper. Her wealthy family owns the large home at the top of the hill where they host extravagant parties for their wealthy friends. And, unfortunately, Barbara is not the first of their children to go missing. Their son Bear disappeared from the property during the summer of 1961 and was never found. 

The book weaves together the stories of multiple characters: Barbara; her bunkmate, Tracy; her camp counselor, Louise, her mother, Alice; and Investigator Judy Luptack, the only female investigator on Barbara’s case. Through these stories, another emerges from the camp’s director, TJ Hewitt, a woman who grew up at Camp Emerson and the Van Laar Preserve, and whose father was the caretaker before her. The Hewitts and the Van Laars are and have always been closely connected. 

Throughout the book, we learn that each of the female characters is struggling in some way to make the best of a bad situation. 

I couldn't put this down or wait to see how it all came together.