I loved the flawed protagonist in this story who is facing real life issues but also long running issues from the past
It was a good plot and setting.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

This follow-up to Bluebird, Bluebird brings back Texas Ranger Darren Matthews, a nicely complicated and flawed protagonist who is also a black man in racially-tense Texas. Pitching him against the Aryan Brotherhood make race absolutely central to this book with a mystery that goes back to America's troubled history of slavery.

Locke is a passionate writer who uses fiction to explore history and the way it points forward to contemporary tensions. I did feel that this story slightly gets away from her at points: characters are introduced then forgotten about, and the mystery gets increasingly labyrinthine. Still, Matthews is such a charismatic lead character that I can forgive a lot - intelligent crime fiction with heart.

In the wake of Trump’s election victory, Ranger Darren Matthews travels down Highway 59 to Jefferson, Texas, where nine-year-old Levi King, son of an imprisoned Aryan Brotherhood captain, has gone missing. Strangely, only Levi’s father and sister plead for the boy’s return. Local law enforcement assume he’s dead, his own grandmother, one of the town leaders, remains eerily distant, and Matthews’ boss only wants him to find evidence to implicate his father.

Matthews, though, realizes the local denizens are obfuscating at every turn. An elderly black man, Leroy Page, claims to have seen Levi the night he disappeared, making him the last person to see him. Leroy becomes a suspect, but Matthews doubts his guilt. He’s driven to find out what really happened to Levi, and perhaps escape his mother’s hold having a secret that could bury his career, even if it means making a devil’s bargain. Powerful forces in Jefferson, however, are intent on seeing him fail.

Heaven, My Home is compulsively readable with a compelling and serpentine mystery reaching back to the antebellum era. It brought in just enough Bluebird, Bluebird to both satisfy and whet curiosity. Background to the mystery is the town of Jefferson, a failed port city which capitalizes on its past, hosting ghost tours that visit the sites where white women died but conveniently ignoring the deaths of blacks before and after slavery. The book shows how racism can be so seamlessly institutionalized, those with privilege (whites) can see it only if looking, but people of color are subject to large and small aggressions. Furthermore, it hints at the practical and personal consequences of Trump’s victory which we’ve sadly seen play out over the past couple of years. Darren also has to confront his own biases and his tendency to view black men of a certain age as though they are the same as his uncles.

I did overwhelmingly enjoy the book, but something that worked less for me was the introduction of so many characters who weren’t utilized in the story, for example, a group of Matthews’ fellow Rangers who sound interesting but only appeared in a single scene. Likewise, I felt Levi’s sister, Dana, was savvy and observant, while Leroy’s neighbors, the Goodfellows, were important to the plot, but not as developed as I might have preferred.

Complex and flawed, Matthews presents a welcome alternative to the mystery protagonists who are male detectives, overconfident, and undeterred by rules or procedures. His Eastern Texas district, rural, conservative, and often racist, obstructs his ability to successfully navigate his investigations. Even when he is doing the wrong thing, I want events to work out for him. I recommend this series for readers who enjoy mysteries and who want to understand small town racism.

Thanks to NetGalley and Serpentine Books for providing an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I came late to the party with Heaven, My Home as I hadn't read the previous Bluebird, Bluebird - which I am now going to read. I just loved Heaven My Home though Darren was a new character to me and I didn't have the full backround. Black American Texas Ranger in a racially rife Texas............absolutely made for engrossing reading. Written with poise, skill, compassion, fervour and spot-on characters. It always amazes me that even in this day and age - ESPECIALLY in this day and age - there are racists and bigots on ALL sides. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised but it's a damning enough fact. of life to be of tremendous concern. This book just tore at my heart. And so beautifully written. Filled with history and pathos with a wonderfully flawed main protagonist but ultimately realistic. I just adored this book.

I loved Bluebird, Bluebird but I'm having a difficult time with Heaven. There seems to be too many characters so too many story lines to keep up with. The story is intense. Ranger Matthews seems to have matured. He is a conflicted man with loyalties and ingrained prejudices of his own that he must set aside to get his job done. As in the first book, his personal life, mainly the relationships with his wife and his mother, are wearing him down while keeping him on edge. The central story takes awhile to sort through. Again too many characters with their own story lines to sort. But in the end, Darren will figure out the mystery and save himself at the same time.

The book was a slow read, basically just hard to connect with the characters.
Thanks, NetGalley for the advance copy for review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
I loved Bluebird, Bluebird. To me, the second book was harder to like. A boy disappears in a bayou and is thought to be kidnapped, while Texas Ranger Darren Mathews is trying to figure out what is going on he deals with the Aryan Brotherhood, deceit and dark secrets. I had a hard time liking characters in this.

Attica Locke writes another page turner. I found myself hanging on her every word. Her storytelling has a way of pulling the reader in, and for a reader up for the adventure, this book is the perfect fit. I highly recommend this book, and can't wait for the third installment.

Nine year old Levi King knows he’s in trouble, a he’s alone on a huge lake in a boat with a motor that won’t start, and that’s just the beginning of his nightmare. Texas Ranger Darren Matthews is looking for the boy, while at the same time keeping tabs on the kid’s white supremacist family, Dealing with a shay marriage and a manipulative mother, it’s all Darren can do to keep his own head above water. Locke’s complex novel about racial tensions and ignorance is as frightening as it is spellbinding