Read by Madeleine Maby
Good story. Enjoyable. Many twists. ( )

Literary Fiction; Shattered Mourning and Murder

A librarian once spoke about "The Contract for Violence" that we sign when we engage in public discourse . Working, school, relationships; any activity where our participation involves reaping a portion of limited and finite resources. Some groups and individuals exert a presumed Manifest Destiny; an entitlement over the lives and well-being of others, leaving scraps for the less fortunate and broken, culminating in self-destructive behaviors, and more violence against their own tribes. This well written novel is a perfect snapshot of this phenomenon via an out-of-control vehicle of fiction. Bravo.
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Carol Goodman's suspenseful novel revolves around Nan Lewis, whose career, much like her life, is in a muddle. Nan teaches creative writing and literature courses at SUNY Acheron in the Hudson River valley near Poughkeepsie, NY (near the actual site of SUNY New Paltz). The Hudson River's importance to the novel is not so subtly underscored in the choice of the campus' name: Acheron, known in Greek mythology as "the River of Woe" and one of the five rivers of Hades (or the underworld). The narrative takes the reader on a trip into an eery Odyssean demimonde of crime and tragic consequences.

At the December English department holiday party, a friend and fellow professor tells Nan that she (Nan) has been denied tenure -- a potentially career-ending move. As she returns home from the party, in a state of agitation and possible inebriation, Nan hits a deer in the same spot where her 4-year old daughter was killed by a drunk driver seven years earlier. The next morning, Nan is awakened by a policeman who informs her that her vehicle struck and killed an Acheron student. Nan, an unreliable witness who clearly has a drinking problem, tells the policeman that she struck a deer, not a person. Her memory of events is hazy and she quickly becomes the suspect in a hit-and-run investigation into the death of Leia, one of her brightest students. Word quickly spreads through the campus and town of Nan's role in Leia's death. Nan achieves pariah status, thanks to an overachieving student blogger who apparently has an inside source. The tale then moves into high gear with further developments.

Did Nan kill Leia? If so, how did it happen and why? River Road is a page turner with a large cast of characters and moving parts. The bleak December landscape of Acheron creates a moody and sometimes sinister atmosphere in which reality and mythology become entwined.

I enjoyed River Road and thought the characters and plot were well developed. I look forward to reading other mysteries by Carol Goodman.
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This was predictable, boring, unnecessarily convoluted and managed to end in a nice neat bow. ( )

River Road by Carol Goodman is a suspense-laden mystery about a college professor who is a suspect in the hit and run death of her student.

Nan Lewis is on her way home from a faculty party when she hits a deer on the same stretch of road where a drunk driver killed her young daughter six years earlier. Distraught over learning she was denied tenure and a little foggy from the wine she consumed at the party, she leaves her car to search for the injured deer but finding no trace of it, she drives home. The next morning, she learns Leia Dawson, one of her brightest students, was killed by a hit and run driver in the same spot where she hit the deer. Despite advice to the contrary, Nan cannot resist trying to find the person responsible for Leia's death.

Nan is a bit of an unreliable narrator for a good part of the novel. Although she won't (or cannot) admit it, she is a functioning alcoholic who numbs her pain by throwing back a few bourbons every night. Although convinced she hit a deer, her memory of the night Leia died is a confusing jumble of a vivid dream and actual events that possibly occurred after she fell asleep (or passed out?) in the woods while searching for the injured deer. Equally bewildering are objects left at the scene of the accident that seem to point to Hannah Mulder, the drunk driver who killed Nan's daughter. Determined to clear her name, Nan ignores police advice to stay out of the case and begins her own willy-nilly investigation which unwittingly puts her in danger.

One of the first people Nan turns to for answers is her ex-lover and colleague Ross Ballantine. Ross hosted the faculty party she attended and while her memory of the night is a little muddled, she clearly remembers that Leia appeared upset when Nan saw her in the kitchen with Ross. Although she finds it difficult to believe that Ross is capable of murder, he has a reputation of being a little too involved with his students. New evidence leads the police to his door but is Ross Leia's killer?

Another name that keeps popping up in connection with Leia is another one of Nan's students, Troy Van Donk. Troy is not exactly an upstanding citizen but he is not a mastermind criminal either. However she cannot ignore the possibility he might be involved in Leia's death once her memories become a little clearer and she realizes she saw Leia and Troy together at the party. As she begins delving deeper into his more unsavory activities at the college, she begins to believe there is a real possibility that Troy killed Leia and then tried to frame Nan for the murder.

In the middle of trying to figure out what happened to Leia, Nan is forced to confront her drinking problem and her unresolved grief and guilt over her daughter's death. She also must face the uncomfortable truth about her role in the demise of her marriage. Equally eye opening is the realization that her apathy at work and inattention to the details of her student's lives may have indirectly played a role in Leia's death. As she finally indulges in some long overdue soul searching, Nan's insight into her own behavior becomes the impetus she needs to make positive changes in her life. But when faced with adversity, will she revert to old habits?

Although a bit of a slow starter, River Road by Carol Goodman is an engrossing mystery. The characters are sympathetic and likable despite their all too human frailties and flaws. The plot is full of unexpected twists and turns and the liberal use of red herrings successfully obscures the perpetrator's identity for a good part of the novel. A fascinating whodunit that I highly recommend to readers of the genre. ( )