By Ashley Flowers
New York: Bantam, 2022. 312 Pages. Mystery
Everyone from Wakarusa, Indiana remembers the infamous case of January Jacobs, who was discovered in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Margot Davies was six at the time and January’s next-door neighbor. In the 20 years since, Margot has moved away and become a big-city journalist, but she's always been haunted by the fear that it could've been her. And the worst part is, January's killer has never been brought to justice. When Margot returns home to help care for her uncle, Wakarusa is exactly how she remembered-- genial, stifled, secretive. When news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who's gone missing under eerily similar circumstances, Margot vows to find Natalie and solve January's murder once and for all. But the police, the family, the townspeople all seem to be hiding something. And the deeper Margot digs into Natalie's disappearance, the more resistance she encounters, and the colder January's case feels.
Ashley Flowers, author and cohost of the Crime Junkie podcast, takes us on a deep dive into a hometown mystery in a way that mirrors her own investigative reporting. Protagonist Margot, in her dogged pursuit for the truth, acts as almost a stand-in for Flowers. While caring for her ailing uncle and trying to keep her flailing journalism career on track, Margot’s motivations are grounded and believable. Flowers excels at creating a protagonist we can relate to, as well as building a cast of supporting characters that are well-developed and feel recognizable in the setting. Wakarusa and its townspeople, with their small town “nothing bad ever happens here” mentality, provide a convincing backdrop for this page-turning mystery. The plot is clearly influenced by the real-life case of Jon Benet Ramsay which only adds to the true crime podcast comparisons. Overall, All Good People Here is a compelling and suspenseful mystery for true crime lovers.
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By Stacy Willingham
Minotaur Books, 2023. 326 Pages. Fiction
One year ago, Isabelle's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night. With little evidence and few leads, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her--literally. Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn't slept in a year. Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can't go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster, but his interest in Isabelle's past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason's disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust including herself.
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