The Weight of Blood

Ever since I read this haunting book, I haven’t been able to shake the memory. Its Ozark Mountain setting is incredibly well-rendered, mostly via trailer-dwelling characters scrabbling to survive. In this community, vulnerable girls have gone missing, and young Lucy Dane is trying to work out why.

There are entrancing, regular tales of hunting, gathering, and cooking (one character has a popular recipe for squirrel dumplings). This made the story feel so authentic and tangible, lending even more fear and credence to the disturbing crimes that take place.

Immediate and full disclosure: I’ve known Laura McHugh for a number of years, and she was generous enough to blurb my book. But trust me: That’s not why I’m mentioning this book.

In fact, The Weight of Blood is loaded with aspects that made it a must-include for this list: it’s impressively well-written; it’s a page-turner no doubt; its character development is first-rate; it presents a distinct geographical area thoroughly and engagingly. Plus Laura’s having written it gave us writers of mysteries/thrillers the green light to let our characters be creepy.

How can an author creep out readers yet also… show more.

At first, it was a little confusing because there were time jumps between the present and the past. But once I figured it out, the ride was as smooth as peanut butter.

You’d never really expect a story about a girl trying to figure out who her mother was to be so utterly enticing, dramatic, dreadful, painful, and uniquely surprising.