Morgan’s Landing by Linda Griffin
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by AstilbeIn the small town of Morgan’s Landing, fourteen-year-old Julie Morgan disappears on her way to school after a spat with her twin sister. Detective Jim Brady uncovers a few suspects—Is it fired school janitor Bear Wayans, paroled sex offender Raymond Ochner, Julie’s computer teacher David Hartwell…or his own teenage son Colin? Jim can’t believe his son could be involved, but his wife is convinced the boy is hiding something. He needs to find Julie before the worst happens—and keep the peace at home.
Not everything is as safe as it may first appear to be.
This tale did a good job of exploring what it’s like to live in a small community. I especially liked the scenes that showed the many different connections between various characters. While not everyone knew everyone else on a personal basis, they did see each other around regularly and had all sorts of loose ties to each other through school, work, and other activities that typically take up a lot of someone’s time. I enjoyed taking note of how everyone knew each other and, in some cases, what they thought of one another, too.
It would have been helpful to have more character development. As interested as I was in the plot, getting to know the characters wasn’t as easy as I would have preferred it to be because of how little time was spent describing their personalities. I could describe their physical appearances and occupations easily, but I would struggle if someone asked me if the major characters were shy, boisterous, serious, thoughtful, talkative, or some other adjective. If this hadn’t been the case, I would have happily gone for a higher rating as the storyline itself was attention grabbing.
The twist at the end was a wonderful surprise that I hadn’t seen coming. I enjoy it when mysteries play around with the rules of their genres and expect their readers to keep thinking of new possibilities from the first scene to the last one. Kudos to Ms. Griffin for her creativity here! It’s a big part of the reason why I get a thrill every time she comes out with a new book.
Morgan’s Landing kept me guessing.