I read this book for my January in-person book club pick and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. The book has been sitting on my unread shelf for at least 3 years, but I haven't been in the mood to read mystery/suspense lately, so I suggested it to my small group of readers.

This is a dark book. Starts off with a bang when we find our main character, Lydia, finds a patron of the book store where she's employed (Bright Ideas) has

committed suicide.

From here, the story begins its quick unraveling. Details about Lydia's mysterious past are revealed through flashbacks

(she was the lone survivor of the Hammerman's killings in Colorado as a child, her father found her hiding under the kitchen sink at her friend's house and after the police investigation failed to find the killer, they left town without telling anyone)

while we also work to solve the mystery of Joey's death (the  bookstore patron). 

Though she no longer speaks to her father or friends from her childhood (thanks to ~trauma~), people begin to come out of the woodwork. The end of the book provides satisfying resolutions to both mysteries that the book works through simultaneously.

I enjoyed the pace of the book, the unraveling of the mysteries, and that even though there's more challenges to work through at the end for all the characters involved, there is hope on the horizon. The only reason it wasn't a 5-star read for me is because I predicted some of the mysteries a bit before they were revealed, and I think there are smarter people out there who could've figured it all out sooner.