For fans of Julia Keller and Sheena Kamal, All We Buried disturbs the long-sleeping secrets of a small Washington State mountain town.Interim sheriff Elizabeth “Bet” Rivers has always had one repeat nightmare: a shadowy figure throwing a suspicious object into her hometown lake in Collier, Washington. For the longest time, she chalked it up to an overactive imagination as a kid. Then the report … a kid. Then the report arrives. In the woods of the Cascade mountain range, right in her jurisdiction, a body floats to the surface of Lake Collier. When the body is extricated and revealed, no one can identify Jane Doe. But someone must know the woman, so why aren’t they coming forward?
Bet has been sitting as the interim sheriff of this tiny town in the ill-fitting shoes of her late father and predecessor. With the nightmare on her heels, Bet decided to build a life for herself in Los Angeles, but now it’s time to confront the tragic history of Collier. The more she learns, the more Bet realizes she doesn’t know the townspeople of Collier as well as she thought, and nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.
more
This is a tightly written murder mystery revolving around Elizabeth “Bet” Rivers, the new sheriff in town since the death of the former sheriff, her father. Bet has a lot on her plate; trying to find out who killed the young woman discovered in the local lake, trying to find the missing friends of the dead woman, dealing with suspicions of local residents as well as her uncertainty about her capabilities to be sheriff in her small town. There were many characters to keep track of but I did not find any difficulty with that. I found the story to be well told and the mystery to be engrossing. It kept me guessing until the end! A great start to what looks like the first in a series.
I received a copy from Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.
The bound body of a young girl found in an isolated mountain lake brings back clouded memories from childhood for Elizabeth “Bet” Rivers. Despite a lifetime of daydreams and nightmares, Bet doesn’t know if the shadowy figure she saw dumping a body into the lake as a child was real or imagined.
But the former member of LAPD is back in her hometown of Collier, Washington as the town’s interim sheriff with the recent death of the last sheriff… her father. Bet isn’t convinced she wants the job but files to run for the position anyway out of a sense of duty to her father. Her opponent is one of her father’s deputies… a man who is not qualified for the job.
Bet has her hands full identifying the murdered young woman and how she came to be in Collier while dealing with the election, harassing notes and texts telling her to go back to LA, and the reappearance of Collier residents who moved away years ago. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so, but she isn’t ready for the long-held secrets of the past about people she believed she knew well that come to light and prove a connection between her nightmares and her murder victim.
With a twisty plot that kept me guessing right up to the last page, All We Buried is well-written suspense. I liked Bet Rivers because even in all her flaws and indecision, she still has direction. While her father’s words guided her, her character grew enough for her to realize she didn’t need his guidance. Her attention to detail will not only help her solve two cases but also save her life.
My favorite characters were police department secretary, Alma, and Schweitzer, the Anatolian Shepherd Bet inherited from her father. I would have loved more of Sandy, and Rob Collier grew on me from his first appearance… and that ending cinched it! Go, Rob!
This is a book one, so I’m looking forward to seeing Sheriff Bet Rivers and the gang from Collier again!
Enjoy!
All We Buried … a small-town murder with secrets boiling to the top of three families all damaged by the past, or what the past may bring to the present. Taylor was able to weave her characters into a tale of whodunit where I was questioning to the end – who really did commit the murder?
Taylor weaved a wonderful cast of characters in her story and each played their part. Typically, I find a large group of characters can be cumbersome and hard to keep up with, but All We Buried worked. I think the tale spun wouldn’t have reached as far if only a few characters were part of the weave.
It was slow reading at first for me and I was concerned that I wouldn’t finish, but I had the opportunity to move to the audiobook and the story really came to life. Without distraction, I was able to finish listening in one day.
For me, the read is really about the mystery of the past for our characters and understanding how they fit together. It’s not an action-packed climax, but a slow emergence of understanding and realization. A great whodunit.
I received a copy of All We Buried from the Author/Publisher via the Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tour for my honest opinion. You can read my full review here: http://bit.ly/RAPTReviewBuried.