Jess Lourey

Twenty-something Mira James jumps at a chance to leave the Twin Cities in hopes of a new start. She's in a dead-end job, has a cheating boyfriend, and doesn't know what she wants for her future.

Moving to Battle Lake, Minnesota, may not be the exact new start she was looking for though. Yeah, she quickly finds a couple of new jobs. She's a new librarian at the Battle Lake Public Library and she's in charge since the other librarian is off on a vacation. She also gets a job writing for the local newspaper which lets her use her otherwise useless English degree.

She's swept off her feet by an archaeologist who's in town looking for the best property for a new tourist attraction. However, things take a downturn when she finds her new love dead on the floor of her library when she opens one morning.

As she looks into his murder, she uncovers more than the usual secrets in a town filled with quirky characters.

I enjoyed the small-town setting and all the quirky characters. I liked Mira's desire for a new start. The writing, told from Mira's point of view, was descriptive and amusing.… (más)

While seemingly inspired by actual events in St. Cloud, Minnesota in the 1970s, this book very quickly moves into fictional events. This is not to say that this book was not a good read because it was. The way in which the author creates the world of an horrific series of events within a seemingly small number of people. (NOTE: I started to say close-knit but that is ultimately a surface impression that could not be farther from the truth.) What is truly striking about this book is how it -- whether intentionally or not -- creates separate worlds of men and women. Based on the setting in the 1970s, this is a legitimate fact to instill in the story but in reading from the present time, it is disconcerting how separate the lives are of men and women and by extension boys and girls. The author references the girls passing over a sort of virtual threshold from girl to woman and this is an accepted truth in this place and time. This potentially is what leads to the terrible events that occur to virtually all of the women and girls that are named in this book.

It was well worth the read. And, as I implied above, the author did an excellent job of describing the world of suburban 1970s.

I did like this book very much. The three-star rating is simply in relation to other books that I am currently reading and where my interests lie at the moment.… (más)