I am a big fan of Where the Crawdads Sing so I wasn't sure if this book could compete with it in my list of enjoyable books. But it definitely did. Full of mystery and intrigue, it held my attention to the very end.

This is my first book by Hartman, and I really enjoyed it. The setting and the mood were particularly strong. Along with the strong character development and elements of mystery, Hartman made it a story that was hard to put down. I found it particularly easy to identify with the girl who idolized her father, and I enjoyed the fact that at the end of the novel, there was a comfortable peace between the main character and her mother.

I waited entirely too long to read this book and I hope you don't make the same mistake I did. It has shades of "Where the Crawdads Sing" if only in the love and lovingly depiction of the natural world. I love nature books and this one did not disappoint. Unraveling a mystery, dealing with complicated family issues, and unpacking quite a lot of her own baggage Lottie did not disappoint. I highly recommend this read - days later I'm still thinking about it.

Virginia Hartman has written an impressive debut about a nature artist who returns to her small town home in Florida to deal with her aging mother. Taking leave from her job at the Smithsonian, she expects to be gone for just two weeks. But between dealing with her younger brother and his wife, emptying out her mother’s house and trying to uncover more about her father’s death years ago, those plans go by the wayside. I found Loni to be a well developed character, although the other characters were less so.
Hartman’s writing is beautiful and atmospheric and I felt myself in the swamps. This isn’t a fast paced book by any stretch, but there’s a strong underlying sense of tension and suspense. The book covers old secrets and Loni’s attempt to suss out the truth. Someone really doesn’t want her looking into the past and there are ominous warnings repeatedly left for her.
And the family issues and how they might get resolved was just as powerful as the mystery surrounding her father’s death.
While it was obvious to me who the bad guy was, the suspense was in how Loni would figure it out, let alone prove anything all the years later.
My thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for an advance copy of this book.

Loved this book! The characters and story line were perfect! A book that should be made into a movie! Recommend!

Engrossing setting, wonderful protagonist, interesting twists... this book offers it all! Five stars.

I received a digital ARC via Netgalley though all thoughts are my own.

This book had my attention from beginning to end as I loved that Loni is a talented bird drawing artist who works at the Smithsonian and how she decided to get into such a career.

She is haunted by her Dad's death which happened when she was twelve and she's always wondered whether his death was accidental.

When her brother calls her to come back to her hometown of Tenetke, Florida to help with her Mom who appears to be showing signs of dementia, she's torn by duty but also wanting to continue on with her job at the Smithsonian.

She decides to take a temporary leave of absence from her job and when she visits her Mom at the local nursing home, her complicated relationship with her Mom comes to a head.

Loni soon finds herself caught up in trying to help sort things from her Mom's home along with her brother and sister in law who have decided to rent the place out, trying to learn what might have really happened to her Dad and also an unexpected romance.


I'm so happy to have read this book and am looking forward to reading more by this author in the future.

Trigger warnings: death of a parent, strained relationship with a parent, some violence, death

This book was compared to “Where the Crawdads Sing” which was a pretty high bar to achieve. This book didn’t live up to my expectations (and this lofty comparison), as it moved rather slowly and there was such an emphasis on the birds. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When loni was just 11 or 12 years old her father never came back. Most of the towns people thought he committed suicide by drowning, others thought it was an accidental drowning or he just simply left his family. Loni helped her mother with her baby brother Phil and then she grew up and went to college to get away from the small town. After she graduated from college she moved to Washington D.C and started working at the Smithsonian museum and drew birds.

Loni’s brother Phil called her and told her their mother had a fall and broke her wrist and was placed in what loni calls the old geezer place. Loni hates her brothers wife. But is forced to pack up the house with both Phil’s wife and him.

I honestly didn’t realize what was happening throughout the book. The secrets this town was keeping and what really happened to her father that day. I thought the ending was really good. I didn’t expect the ending to be like it was but I really enjoyed it.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. A little slow. More about the characters then the mystery. I kind of want to see her bird pictures, because what a cool job.

Date is made up. I fell behind on reviews.

The comparison to "Crawdads" drew me in. The writing was colorful and descriptive, flowing with pictures and imagined scenes .. revealing a prickly main character, her even pricklier mother, and a family mystery. The storyline meanders in the middle, short chapters that (to me) did not add anything except prolong the long 8 weeks in this time frame. It took me a long while to finish as I felt I was getting lost in inertia - but did not want to give up on it, so I put it down and came back. This is slow-paced and had a decent ending

If you liked Where the Crawdads Sing you will love this novel. It is a Florida Sister to Crawdads. What really happen to Loni's father all those years ago READ THIS BOOK

🌾 I generally liked this book. I gave it 3-stars, which for me means I liked the book, but it wasn’t necessarily the best of its genre. I struggled with how similar this story was to Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I will say that this book felt a bit more like a pure crime drama and a little less like a coming-of-age story (like Crawdads was), but there were still almost too many similarities in my opinion. The parallels were distracting for me.

🌾 I did think the characterizations where good, particularly for the main character Loni Mae Murrow. Although, I must admit, I couldn’t believe she was a nature artist (just like Kya in Crawdads)!

🌾 There was some realistic family drama incorporated into the story that I appreciated and made me feel a little more connected to the MC. We can probably all connect with family drama, right?

🌾 The story did drag a bit for me. For a mystery/thriller there just wasn’t much going on for a while in the middle. Even when the story was hitting its climax, it still felt a little flat.

🌾 I guessed the murderer early on, which impacted my enjoyment of the story overall.

🌾 I really hate that I couldn’t get past comparing this book to Crawdads in my head as I was reading it. If I hadn’t read Crawdads first, I may have appreciated this book a bit more.

Thank you @NetGalley and Gallery Books for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

The Marsh Queen was super interesting! It was a mix between mystery/literary fiction. The characters were deep and well executed. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the death of her father. Really good debut novel with her own unique stamp on it. I will read her again!

📚 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 - The Marsh Queen⁣
𝘉𝘺 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯⁣
⭐⭐⭐ (3.5/5) ⁣
⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐆𝐢𝐬𝐭": Lonnie Mae Murrow returns to her North Florida hometown to care for her ailing mother. But someone doesn't want her there. And when the details surrounding her late father's "suicide" point to something more sinister, it's up to her to solve the mystery. ⁣
⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 💭: The premise for this one hooked me IMMEDIATELY, but I really struggled to connect to the characters and get into a nice, steady reading pace with this story. As much a I wanted to love it, I wasn't excited to pick it up and read, and that's always a sign that something just isn't jiving.⁣
⁣
That said, the back 20% really pulled it together, and I ended up thinking this was an okay, if not enjoyable, read. ⁣

Huge thanks to the publisher for a free copy of The Marsh Queen in exchange for an honest review!
⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝗪𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞👍:⁣
- The setting! Florida settings always hook me.⁣
⁣
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 👎:⁣
- The pace was frustrating. The first 75% was a lot of Lonnie running around, avoiding her responsibilities to her mother, and asking a lot of questions that weren't getting answered. Also, a TON of bird talk. Like...SO MUCH bird talk. 🤣 I needed more of a reason to keep turning pages and I just wasn't getting it. ⁣
- Maybe adding in some more Adlai (and sooner) would have helped me connect to their budding relationship? We were over halfway through the book before we learned ANYTHING about him other than him being the canoe guy.⁣
- Some of the cheesy, Florida cliches/southern slang were a bit over the top. As a native, I can confidently say most of us do NOT speak that way. ⁣
⁣
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 📖: You like slow burn mysteries set in the swampy south, alligators, and handsome shirtless men in overalls. ❤️⁣
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𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: PG-13

I was a little hesitant when I picked up this debut novel, but Hartman drew me in quickly. The main character’s profession was fascinating and added to the story. A must read for anyone who loves museums.
4.5 Stars

My only regret is not reading this novel sooner! The experience was very immersive and I loved the description, especially with the main character's bird drawings. There is enough interest and mystery to keep a reader wanting to turn the page and a sweet romance is also sprinkled in. Comparisons to "Where the Crawdads Sing" is fair given the setting and the female protagonist, but the overall feel of the book is different. I highly recommend!

This book was a good mystery full of family drama. It had beautiful imagery and the setting of the Florida marshy swamps fit so well into the storyline. I felt connected to the main character and even though the ending wasn’t surprising, I was totally invested in the storyline all the way through the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. As a person who lived in Florida for a decent amount of years, I deeply appreciate the weird and wild nature that exists there. The author did a wonderful job of capturing that, while also creating a slow build thriller that kept me engaged through the last page. There was also some romance and family reckoning - a nice mix of everything. A good read for people with some affinity for Florida, the natural world, or family secrets revealed.

Where to start. Unfortunately I just did not enjoy this book. It was not horrible but it was also not great. To compare it to Where the Crawdads Sing is very misleading. It's nothing like that book. The only thing the two have in common is the marsh. That is all in my opinion.

This is about a woman, Loni, who returns to her hometown to help her brother take care of their mother who broke her wrist and is in the beginning stages of dementia. First let me say that I would not have gone back to help. She, the mother, treated Loni like she was very unwanted. She was not kind to her as a child or as an adult. Sometimes you just have to walk away and stay away. Of course then this would not have been much of a story. Loni is determined to get to the bottom of what really happened to her dad when she was only twelve years old. He drowned in the marsh. Or he committed suicide. Or was it murder... Lots to choose from right. No one in this town seems to like her or want to help her. Her brother is oblivious to what happened as he was just a baby when it happened. Their mother never let them talk about their dad after it happened. Just buried her head in the sand so to speak and go on with life.

There is a mystery here and I figured it out quite fast. To me it was just obvious. But that may not be the case for others. While I didn't particularly enjoy this book it did have some good things. Adlai was the owner or operator of the canoe rental stand and it seems him and Loni finally started talking a bit. Maybe a bit of romance there. Although I found him to be a tad hateful. But that could just be me. Seems a lot of others loved this book. That is great for the author for sure. I think it was well written for the most part. It was interesting to learn things about birds. It just didn't grab me and didn't make me have any of the great feels like books should do.

Thank you #NetGalley, #VirginiaHartman, #GalleryBooks for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

3 stars and I recommend you read it for yourself and decide what you think. It just didn't do it for me.