The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond

Back Cover

For over a century, the town of Gossamer Grove has thrived on its charm and Midwestern values, but Annalise Forsythe knows painful secrets, including her own, hover just beneath the pleasant facade.  Yet her strange and sudden inheritance of a run-down trailer home - full of pictures, vintage obituaries, and old revival posters - leaves her wholly unprepared for how truly dark and deadly those secrets may be.

A century earlier, Gossamer Grove is stirred into chaos by the arrival of controversial and charismatic twin revivalists.  The chaos takes a murderous turn when Libby Sheffield, while working at her father's newspaper, receives an obituary for a reputable church deacon hours before his death.  As she works with the deacon's son to solve the crime, it becomes clear that a reckoning has come to town - but it isn't until another obituary arrives at the paper that they realize the true depths of the danger they've waded into.

Two women, separated by a hundred years, must unravel the mysteries of their own town before it's too late and they lose their future - or their very souls.

Review

So, so good.  Truly, this book was excellent!  I became a big fan of Jaime Jo Wright after reading her debut novel, The House on Foster Hill, whereby she combined the past and the present into a thrilling mystery.  This form of writing appears to be becoming her signature style as The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond follows the same premise.

In 1907, deadly intrigue is at the forefront of this particular story as a small town, which has already been sent reeling with the arrival of twin revivalists - the Corbin brothers - now has to come to turns with the sudden death (and apparent suicide) of Deacon Greenwood.  Libby Sheffield has her doubts with the determination of suicide as she received a mysterious obituary for Deacon Greenwood foretelling his death.  As troubling events continue to unfurl, which seemingly involve the Corbin brothers, and which events are  leaving more questions than answers, Libby finds herself in the thick of things and worried that her own deadly secret could come to light.

Fast forward to present day, and Annalise Forsythe also finds herself in mysterious circumstances with the inheritance of a run-down trailer full of pictures of herself and historical events about the town.  The last thing Annalise wants is her carefully concealed history made public, but she soon realizes that her past may be the key to the intrigue surrounding Gossamer Pond.  But the answer does not only lie in her past, but in the town's history, forcing her to work with people she doesn't even want to be in the same room with.  The only thing for certain is that if Annalise has to throw back the veil on her own secrets, she will ensure that everyone's secrets will also be revealed.

This was a thrilling read (be sure to leave a light on if diving into this novel at night!) full of twists and turns that kept me guessing to the very end.  I highly recommend this book for those who love a good mystery!

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.