I loved Amy Suiter Clarke’s debut (Girl, 11), and her sophomore novel is just as compelling. She skillfully builds the dread factor as her amateur sleuth Del returns to her cult-like religious hometown to uncover the truth about her first love’s death. Some of the most engrossing (and chilling) chapters came from the blog entries by Del’s nemesis, Del’s ex-best friend and the woman who married Del’s true love, now dead, as well as the journal entries from when Del was a teen trying to fit into her town’s extreme religious environment. The story does an excellent job centering Del’s past trauma because of the church’s leader while she reconciles her own biases during her investigation. The twisty, creepy end will definitely have readers on edge. Suiter Clarke is an auto-buy for sure!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion on this early copy.

Del fled her hometown and cult-like church when she went to college. When she hears that her childhood love, Lars, is found dead in a hunting accident and the authorities are ruling it an accident, she rushes home. When she gets home, she learns that the church has only grown larger, and more controlling.

Del uncovers many secrets when she gets home. For starters, Lars’s wife was having difficulties in their marriage and seems to be the prime suspect in his death but now Del needs to convince the authorities to listen to her…will she succeed?

This was an interesting book on a religious community bordering on a cult. While I enjoyed Del’s character, I found her a bit naïve at times. She tried so hard to be a good detective, but she was not. The book was also quite jumbled – there was just a lot going on. However, bringing down the overbearing old way church was quite fun to read. It wasn’t done in a negative way against religion, it was more of what happens if people take religion and weaponize it for the good of only a few people. I viewed it more as Del grew up in a cult and that was easier for me to understand.

Ok, this might take "'current favorite'" billing for me. I loved everything about this book, the writing, the subject matter, and the conclusion. Being kind of obsessed with all things cult, this book was a no brainer because let's face it, fundamentalism is basically a cult and this was done to perfection. The pull that religions and religious figures can have on some people was at play here with Del, Eve, and Pastor Rick being at the center of this mystery. Eve was a fascinating character and I loved the blog posts which really helped get into her mindset and allowed you to see when the churches facade started to slip for her. The mysterious death of Lars and why it happened almost took a backseat to what else was happening in the megachurch and I couldn't put this down but also didn't want it to end~it's going to be one of those books I wish I could read again for the first time.

When Delilah (Del) Walker left Bower, MN her sophomore year in college, she tried to never look back on the town or their church, The Messiah (which basically was the town). Yet when she finds out her ex-boyfriend, Lars, had died, she returns only to discover not all is what it seems, and this mega church may be doing more than just manipulating the Bible for their own gain. Del believes Lars’ death was no accident and as she tries to uncover the truth, more suspicious things begin to happen.

Del sometimes tended to be a little manic in her thinking and rushed to conclusions that supported her biases as opposed to the evidence at hand. ”Real evidence. That’s what I’ve been lacking this whole time,” she finally thinks after two-thirds of the events have passed. But even after that, amateur sleuth she was not. (However, considering the ultra-conservative, “women are only created to be wives” upbringing Del had, I felt this fit with the story.)

While things tended to get a bit chaotic at times, I was hooked, not only on the mystery behind Lars’ death and subsequent happenings, but also with what felt like an exposé into a cult-like mega church and the religious trauma that can stem from it. I considered The Messiah a part of the setting but also a character in this story. Del scoured for clues to reveal the truth about the church and solve Lars’ death, creating a bumpy yet thrilling ride till the end.

Side note: Even though a conservative church serves as the backdrop for this story, it is not done so maliciously or against Christianity. Rather, it points to how people can take a religion and weaponize or manipulate it for their own use and power. I grew up going to legalistic churches, and I have shared some of the struggles Del and others in this story have. Some of what they were taught were reminiscent of what I heard, which led to a greater connection between me and these characters.

Lay Your Body Down SOLD me on the cult theme. I'm a sucker for a good cult thriller. I enjoyed that you couldn’t trust anyone in the book. You had an idea of who the bad guy was, but there were different situations where you second-guessed yourself. This is a slow burn, so you do have to be patient for the action to happen. That could either make or break the book for you, depending on what type of pacing you like in a book. I didn’t mind it.

Would I recommend this book? If you enjoy cult books, you will find this a good read.

After loving Girl 11, I eagerly dove into Lay Your Body Down, and it definitely did not disappoint. Amy Suiter Clarke's books are not "popcorn thrillers". They don't try to wow the reader with a big twist, but instead they carefully lay the groundwork and build the story in a complex, compelling way.

In Lay Your Body Down, Amy Suiter Clarke tackles the topic of religion, specifically going over the line into a cult and exploring the control it can have over its congregation. When Del Walker comes home to attend the funeral of her college boyfriend, she discovers that nearly everyone is keeping secrets and hiding something, I loved the complex relationship between not only Del and her parents, but also the other members of the Messiah congregation and how far they will go to cover up their sins.

I already can't wait to read what Amy Suiter Clarke is working on next.

Del(ilah) was raised in a strict, patriarchal religious cult. She left home and is estranged from her family, but returns to her rural Minnesota hometown after her former fiancé is killed under suspicious circumstances and everyone is insists it was just a hunting accident. Del launches her own investigation into what happened to Lars and is forced to face her past and confront her former best friend - Lars's widow, Eve.

I was a big fan of Clarke's debut novel, GIRL, 11, so picking this one up was a no-brainer. I thought she did a really good job showing the trauma experienced by people raised in a repressive religion/cult. Eve's blog entries were really something - the way she fully bought into the whole Noble Wife line of patriarchal nonsense was really upsetting. I'm an atheist, so this way of thinking is so bananas to me and made me super uncomfortable (in a fun way?) I thought the pace was a little slow in the middle and got a little murky, but the ending was exciting and satisfying, and I'll happily read whatever else Clarke writes in the future!

Recommended for fans of The Project (Summers) and This Might Hurt (Wrobel) or anyone interested in reading about the darker aspects of extremist religions.

(3.5 rounded up)

As a teacher, there are lots of areas of discussion with this book and I appreciate that. As a reader, it felt a bit too long and overdone. It was like this was her life and her unresolved conflicts and we were along for the ride, so I would have liked it a bit more tightened up. The structure was interesting, with the current plot, the blog posts from a noble wife, and her teenage diary. so some mixed feelings

Because I personally know this author, I had to read her first book, Girl,11 and was so impressed and pleased with the whole thing. Then this one was just as great, and I understood where the inspiration was drawn from. The twists and unpredictability of this one was also equally compelling as the first. Amy, I know how busy you are but I sure hope you continue writing such great fiction!

I just discovered Amy Suiter Clarke a couple months ago when I read GIRL, 11. That book blew me away so much that I immediately searched for all of her work and requested an ARC of LAY YOUR BODY DOWN faster than I've done maybe anything else in my life.

After a few weeks of praying, I was approved! So thank you so much to NetGalley & William Morrow for the ARC!

LAY YOUR BODY DOWN follows MC Del, who travels back to her small religious town she swore she would never return to after her ex-boyfriend of several years, Lars, tragically dies in a hunting accident. Del starts to question, however, how accidental it actually was.

The center of the town is The Messiah, the town's church that everybody attends. Del's adolescence was spent there, and throughout the novel we learn of many of her memories there - both good and traumatic.

As Del starts to ask questions involving Lars' death, she is met with a lot of pushback from the community - Pastor Rick especially. Could he know more than he's letting on?

First and foremost, I would like to stress how much I appreciated how the spectrum of spirituality was portrayed. Most characters in this story are EXTREMELY religious, to the point where they never question a single aspect of their faith. Others were the complete opposite and have turned their back on faith and God altogether. And then there were some who fell somewhere in between; who believed in God but found the flaws in organized (extremist) religion. I felt it was important to see that in between.

Clarke is so, so good at getting you invested in her characters. Not just in what they're trying to achieve or mystery they're chasing, but in their personal growth. I felt just as eager for Del to find out what happened to Lars as I did for her to heal from her own trauma.

I still have some mixed feelings about the ending - it wasn't a complete shock but it was still shocking? Not sure how to articulate it haha but overall I was satisfied with it.

This novel has cemented Clarke as an auto-buy author for me. I love the complexities of her stories and the layers we work through to get to the ending.

If you love cult vibes & small-town mysteries, I think you'll be a big fan of this one!

A compulsively readable thriller set in a compelling, creepy Fundamentalist community. I kept sneaking away from my family to finish this one! I appreciated the layered way that the author represented the teachings of the fictitious church and its stranglehold on its members and ex-members--their families, their livelihoods, even their innermost thoughts about themselves. It was claustrophobic without being unbelievable... which is what made it so scary. I also thought the author did a great job exploring how a traumatic crime that completely upends the victim's life can become a forgettable blip in the memory of the perpetrator.

While there's a plenty of murder and attempted murder in this book, there isn't excessive evil or gore. It's suspenseful but not scary--an enjoyable puzzle to solve. There were a couple twists I saw coming, and a couple I didn't. It's always tricky to present a plausible reason for an amateur sleuth to investigate a crime, and I thought this author did a great job bringing the protagonist and many others into detective work. I appreciated how the main characters were flawed but relatable, messy but sympathetic. Overall, a very strong mystery/thriller that engages social issues in a nuanced, entertaining way.

Del has to leave her small town in rural Minnesota to escape the church that runs and ruins her life. She moves to the Twin cities, but is drawn back to her old town when her ex-boyfriend Lars is killed in a freak hunting accident. Del returns for his funeral, and can't seem to shake the feeling that something is wrong and that someone associated with the church is behind it. She stays to investigate and while reconnecting with her past, strange things continue to happen. What will happen to Del and to the church? Is her hunch right, or is it all revenge against the institution that ruined her life? Read this thriller to find out!

3.5/5 stars

A woman who grew up in a small town dominated by a fundamentalist church escapes to the big city (or cities, in this case: it's Minnesota, where the big city has a twin) but returns when a man she once loved dies. She's worried about being drawn back into the cult, but she's convinced the death didn't happen the way the church says, so she stays to solve the mystery.

There were things to like about this novel - Del has a realistically hardscrabble life, as do so many people who have school debt and few prospects, a nice change from protagonists who seem magically free of money concerns - but I found it hard to quite fix who Del really was, given she sometimes seemed like the classic small town amateur sleuth but at other times was in a thriller. Nothing wrong with mixing sub-genres, but for me her character didn't totally hang together. The social setting - a small town with a big church that runs everything, including law enforcement and main street business - was a real stretch for me. I probably would have bought it if it were in another state - Arkansas or Idaho, maybe - but I live in Minnesota and it just didn't feel like Minnesota.

While I found it very readable, I found it hard to believe wholeheartedly in the characters and the setting, which brought it down a notch.

A wonderfully twisted, dark book. At times frustrating to read because of how insidious the misogyny is, and it's so believable that I found it really disturbing. Highly recommend to fans of psychological suspense.

3.5

Lay Your Body Down follows Del who has left her hometown. She vowed never to return due to the cult-like church in the town and because her ex Lars has now married someone else. But six years later she finds herself back in the town because Lars is suddenly killed. His death was ruled as an accident but Del does not think that is the case. Del thinks that the church has something to do with it. She is determined to cut through the church's lies and figure out what really happened to Lars. 

I really enjoyed this book. I felt like you couldn't really trust any character in this book, which made this a fun one to read. This story has a lot of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. This was a really solid thriller. I do think I would suggest this one. Also, I love the cover of this book. 

Thank you Amy Suiter Clarke, William Morrow, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

A megachurch, a murder, more murder. No one is who they seem. Or maybe they are. This book kept me reading well being my bedtime.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Del Walker left her rural Minnesota home to get away from the oppressive cult-like church were women are taught to be subservient and obey their fathers and then husbands. Del's best friend Eve stole and then married Del's boyfriend, Lars. Six years later, Lars leaves an ominous voicemail and is killed in an hunting accident. Del starts investigating. Eve has been writing a blog called the Noble Wife since a teenage and she is all in on the church's teaching but her marriage is not what she expected.

I liked Del but boy can she make some poor impetuous decisions. Overall I enjoyed the book and recommend it.

When I read books or watch a show where men have so much power over subservient women I wonder if they question the power imbalance or just fully embrace it. If roles were reversed, would women in general do this? I know this is fiction but I get so frustrated.

Haunting and unforgettable. Lay Your Body Down by Amy Suiter Clarke is a masterpiece of trauma and psychology. Hits on personal levels you don't even know you have. Read this book.

I was expecting more. I love a good religious cult thriller, but this one was quite boring. The story really dragged on, and there was nothing really exciting happening throughout.

I waited for this sophomore book and had high hopes for it and was not disappointed. The way that Amy writes and draws you into the characters and story is like no other. I felt like I was watching part of my life unfold through the main character and the things she went through with her church and family. The mystery of how her first love died and what the church had to do with it, if anything, will keep you enthralled to the very last page.