I loved THE WIDOWS, so I've been looking forward to Jess Montgomery's second installment in her KINSHIP series, and THE HOLLOWS did not disappoint. I love historical fiction, and the 1926 Appalachian setting is a welcome change. The fact that the characters of Sheriff Lily Ross and Marvena Whitcomb are inspired by two women from Ohio history makes it even more of a delight.

In THE WIDOWS, an elderly woman is found dead, shoeless and in a thin nightgown, apparently having been struck by a train after falling off the top of the train tunnel. Lily dives into the investigation, first to identify her and then to determine if it was suicide or murder, all while preparing for re-election. Her search leads her to an asylum called The Hollows.

In the course of her investigation, she turns up evidence of the Women's KKK, a part of history I wasn't aware of. She also addresses other issues prevalent at the time, including other issues of racism, prohibition, organizing of the mined, and the pushback of women holding any authority. Both Lily and her friend Hildy (with whom chapters alternate) get constant reminders of a woman's place (in the home). Lily flies in the face of convention, and Hildy struggles with the idea of marrying for security vs true love.

It's a quiet mystery - Montgomery's pacing is slow (in a good way) and steady, much like I imagine the drawl of the characters. This isn't a rollercoaster of a tale, despite a dramatic twist or two in the latter half of the book. This is an evocative story that will draw you in with its beautiful language and solid plot, its interesting, complicated characters, and its richly depicted setting.

Just a gorgeous book with an Appalachian setting I look forward to returning to again and engaging characters that I want to visit with again.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC of this novel. ( )

This is the second book in the Kinship series that I have read and you can bet that if Jess Montgomery keeps writing more I will be reading them. This is a moving series about strong women trying to survive during economic tough times. If you haven't read the first book, The Widows, then I recommend you read it before reading this one.

1926 in rural Ohio was different than the Roaring Twenties in New York City. People struggled to get by especially in the coal mining towns in the Appalachia region of Ohio. Prohibition was the law but up in the hills there were plenty of illegal stills. Even Sheriff Lily Ross wasn't above having a swig of illegal moonshine at times and she turned a blind eye to the still her friend Marvena Whitcomb operated. Sheriff Ross had inherited the position when her husband, the former sheriff, was killed suddenly and she had proven herself capable in the position So in the fall of 1926 she is running in her own right to become sheriff of Kinship county. That doesn't mean she can ignore her duties so when an elderly woman is hit by a freight train at Moonvale Tunnel she is called out in the middle of the night to investigate. The woman is dressed only in a nightgown and has no shoes or identification. The sheriff escorts the body back to Kinship and then returns to the hills to have Marvena help her use a dog to track the woman's trail. Lily's friend from childhood, Hildy Cooper, has offered to sketch the woman and drop off a request for identification at the newspaper while Lily and Marvena go about that. The woman's identity is soon determined but what she was doing at the top of the tunnel and whether she jumped or was pushed still has to be determined. Lily's investigation draws her into a confrontation with her oppenent for the office of sheriff when she learns that the elderly woman was at his former home on that fateful night and that a Ku Klux Klan meeting was held there. The meeting was actually of the Women's KKK, a branch of which has recently started in the county. They may be ramping up their activities because a black union organizer has come to the region to integrate the coal mines. It's a busy and tense time for Sheriff Ross and her friends.

I never knew there was a Women's KKK or that it had chapters in all the states that existed at that time. And there is so much more historical information in this book so it is as much a learning experience as a good read. ( )

I really enjoyed both [The Hollows] and its predecessor, [The Widows]. Both revolve around Lily Ross, who has become sheriff of a small Appalachian town in eastern Ohio in 1925, after her husband, who was the sheriff, is murdered. Lily's friends Marvena and Hildy help to drive the stories, with chapters generally alternating between Lily's and one of her friends'. The themes include proper roles for women, the unionization of coal miners, family, friendship, race, and listening for and to one's inner light. There are threads that continue from [The Widows] into [The Hollows], and there are several new ones. Both are highly recommended. ( )

The Hollows brings back the characters from The Widows; Sheriff Lily Ross, her friends Marvena and Hildy and all of the denizens of Kinship, Ohio. Lily has been sheriff for about a year since her husband was killed and the election is coming up. She is being challenged for the job by a man who thinks among other things that a woman doesn’t belong in the job.

The mystery that drives this book involves an old woman who ends up dead along the train tracks. Lily is called out to investigate and despite everyone trying to get her to declare ita simple accident she refuses until she finds out where the woman came from and why she was out there in the middle of the night. What she learns in the course of her investigation teaches her things about her fellow citizens that she really didn’t need nor want to know. She learns of a nascent WKKK (Women of the Ku Klux Klan) group in town just as Marvena is working with a young man to integrate the mines.

As she works with Hildy to try and determine the identity of the dead woman, plus maintain her relationships and run for sheriff, Lily tries to keep it all together.

Ms. Montgomery is a skilled story teller. She adds a slight mystical aspect to this book that plays well with the story line. I felt right at home with the characters but the book stands along very well. It’s just a richer reading experience for having the full knowledge of what came before. Each bit of information doled out slowly builds until the ending. I started the book and much like with The Widows I had a hard time putting it down. The writing just wraps you up and won’t let you go. It’s never over done and yet there are turns of phrase that just take your breath away. ( )

The Widows, the first book in Jess Montgomery's Kinship historical mystery series, was one of my stand-out books in 2019, and it gives me so much pleasure to say that this second book, The Hollows, is now a stand-out book of 2020. I find the combination of Montgomery's evocative setting, her descriptive language, her story, and her marvelous characters to be well-nigh perfect.

Perhaps the setting speaks to me so strongly because I was raised in a small farm town that had a coal mine until the mine blew up on December 24, 1932, killing over fifty men. In reading the mine's history, I see many parallels to the mines around Montgomery's fictional Kinship, Ohio. The language used, the bred-in-the-bone lifestyle of "make do and mend" all add to the verisimilitude of The Hollows as well. As I read this slow-moving, rich story, I savored its Appalachian flavor and learned more about the attempts to unionize mine workers as well as something I'd never heard of before. Just what that is, I'll leave for you to discover.

The word "hollows" has many meanings in Montgomery's book. It's used in various terms locals use in relating to the landscape, but it also has a physical and emotional meaning-- especially to Hildy Cooper who feels like a failure when compared to her best friend, Sheriff Lily Ross. Hildy has found it impossible to break away from her domineering mother.

Lily Ross-- as well as her friends Marvena and Hildy-- show readers what was expected of women in the rather isolated mining communities of the 1920s, and these women also illustrate what can happen when women insist on breaking the molds others have forced them into. All three women can be mule stubborn, but when it comes to upholding the rule of the law for everyone, Lily joins the camp of Harry Bosch. Everybody counts, or nobody counts, and it's useless to threaten her.

And, oh, the secrets these three women uncover! Never, ever think that small towns and isolated areas are dull. Wherever humans are to be found, there are secrets, and secrets abound in Kinship and the surrounding area.

I loved this book. If you read and loved The Widows, rejoice, because The Hollows is, in many ways, even better. If you've read neither book, rejoice, because you have some excellent stories and characters ahead of you. Don't wait to get your hands on either of these books! ( )