Slow burn mystery that is mostly about homesteading and the return of a writer to his small, Pacific Northwestern town. Elijah grew up in Point Orchards and fell in love with a Native American girl named Nakita. Elijah wanted to move away to attend college and fulfill his dream of becoming a writer but promised to meet Nakia in four years time in a certain spot by the river. Elijah's novel called Middletide was a failure and pride didn't let him return home or seek out Nakita. The novel goes back and forth in time between the 1980's and 1994 when the body of a young doctor named Erin Landry is found hanging from a tree. We find out about the body immediately but the book takes a very long time to return to the mystery part of the story. Most of the book is about Elijah's return, now in his 30's after the death of his parents. Elijah moves into his childhood home, a cottage deep in the woods and he is determined to restore the home and live off the land. The author does a great job of describing homesteading and the climate and wildlife that surrounds Elijah's home but I kept waiting for it to return to the murder story.

Elijah meets up again with Nakita who is part of a Native American tribe which was invented by the author. I'm not sure why she felt the need to create a fictional tribe or that is was necessary for the story. Elijah begins to work at a garage in town owned by an old friend who is of the same tribe as Nakita. When he meets up with Nakita again, he finds out that she was married and her husband died. She is still in mourning and not interested in rekindling their romance. Instead he briefly dates the doctor, Erin who is later found murdered. Elijah and Nakita do eventually reunite but then he arrested for Erin's murder, mostly because her murder fits the murder in his novel almost exactly.

The ending part involves the trial but it is not written with the same care as the rest of the book. Nakita's father who once studied law but never graduated and is now a minister, is allowed to represent Elijah. Information is withheld from the defense and we are told that Washington state requires doctors to give any blood taken to a police database so they can access it if anyone becomes a suspect. That seems wrong to me as usually you would need a warrant to obtain DNA but I don't know the laws of that state. A last minute witness comes forward for he defense, but the whole courtroom scenes could have been more exciting. I would read more by this author because she is great at nature details but I think this would have worked better without the murder element. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

** spoiler alert ** 3.5☆ rounded up.

This novel had a lot of promise, but, while I mostly enjoyed it, under delivered in some areas that kept it from being truly wonderful.

Overall, the story was compelling and the love story beautiful. I loved the descriptions of the setting and the clear appreciation for nature that is shown.

However, while building a world full of love and exploring feelings of finding oneself as an adult, I felt that the themes of grief were not met with the emotional depth they called for. Especially in Erin, grief was acknowledge, but the feelings were not shown. Erin's grief and emotional turmoil were so intense that she killed herself and spent her last months on earth plotting her revenge on the person she felt was to blame; this is emotionally intense, but none of it was shown in this novel. Rather, Erin was portrayed as cold and calculating, even in the single chapter that showed her inner-monologue. I truly wish that Erin's perspective and emotions had been more fleshed out, it would have made this a truly great and complex book.

Thank you NetGallery and Atria Books for this ARC. All opinions shared are honest and my own.

2.5⭐️ rounded up

This book ended up just being okay for me. I found the flashbacks hard to follow because of how they jumped around to random times. I thought a lot of the investigation/courtroom procedural parts seemed flawed. I was surprised at how quick the trial was, and wish that part had been a bit longer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Elijah always dreamed of getting out of his small town and making it as a writer. Before leaving, he promises his girlfriend that he will be back for her in four years, but as it often does, life got in the way. Years later, Elijah moves back to town after his book, Middletide, does not make him the best-selling author he had hoped to be. He is ashamed of his failure and never wants to write again. Years after his return, a beautiful and beloved doctor is found hanging of an apparent suicide on Elijah's property. All signs point to Elijah, but he is adamant in his innocence.

This story is a dual POV told by Elijah and Jim, the city's sheriff. This book is very reminiscent of Where the Crawdads Sing in that it is about a lonely outsider who dates someone seemingly out of his league, which causes suspicion to be raised amongst those in town. I wanted the story to give me so much more than it did. I didn't understand why the Elijah and the FMC were as in love as they were and it was never truly explained. While the story was enjoyable, I found that it dragged far too much for my liking and the ending twist was apparent all along in my opinion. I kept waiting for a great reveal that seemingly never came. I did enjoy the aspect of Elijah's novel playing out in real life, but the other aspects of the story didn't grab my interest enough to rate this book higher than two stars.

I highly recommend this book. I really enjoyed the entire storyline. The plot centers around a the death of Doctor Erin Landry that appears to have committed suicide. She was found on the property of a "failed writer" named Elijah Leith. The story does shift back from present time to the past and brings a storyline of a young summer love between Elijah and Nakita. The story continues to shift from past to present. In the present time we see the investigation unfold which leads to Elijah as the main suspect. In the past time, we learn about how Elijah's past and all the decisions he made have led up to the point where he finds himself in the present time. Elijah works hard to prove that he is innocent but in order to do that he must find out the truth.

I really loved how the story progressed. I will say that there was a great level of sadness throughout the book. I couldn't help but feel so bad for Elijah and the things he went through as he clearly has some regrets with choices he made in the past.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books. All opinions are my own.

Elijah’s return to his family’s cabin after his father’s death and his attempt to live off the land while fixing up the cabin and working with Chitto in the garage represented healing and closure from his failed attempt at being an author and his broken relationship with the alcoholic father he grew up with after his mother’s death. Rekindling his childhood relationship with Nakita was all that was left to come full circle. However, the apparent murder of the town’s doctor on Elijah’s property threatens the life he’s carefully been rebuilding, culminating and his trial for her murder.

I loved the intensity of the book and the role the physical environment played. It was slow and plodding (until the ending, which wrapped up a little too quickly and simply). What a great debut. I’ll be looking for future books from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

"In this gripping and intensely atmospheric debut, disquiet descends on a small town after the suspicious death of a beautiful young doctor, with all clues pointing to the reclusive young man who abandoned the community in chase of big city dreams but returned for the first love he left behind. Perfect for fans of All Good People Here and Where the Crawdads Sing.

One peaceful morning, in the small, Puget Sound town of Point Orchards, the lifeless body of Dr. Erin Landry is found hanging from a tree on the property of prodigal son and failed writer, Elijah Leith. Sheriff Jim Godbout's initial investigation points to an obvious suicide, but upon closer inspection, there seem to be clues of foul play when he discovers that the circumstances of the beautiful doctor's death were ripped straight from the pages of Elijah Leith's own novel.

Out of money and motivation, thirty-three-year-old Elijah returns to his empty childhood home to lick the wounds of his futile writing career. Hungry for purpose, he throws himself into restoring the ramshackle cabin his father left behind and rekindling his relationship with Nakita, the extraordinary girl from the nearby reservation whom he betrayed but was never able to forget.

As the town of Point Orchards turns against him, Elijah must fight for his innocence against an unexpected foe who is close and cunning enough to flawlessly frame him for murder in this scintillating literary thriller that seeks to uncover a case of love, loss, and revenge."

Oh, a murder just like he wrote? Someone's trying to frame him!

This book was very intriguing, and the plot and setting was very unique; it made for a great murder mystery!

It was a great debut novel, but I did find the beginning a little bit slow, which is why I couldn't give it 4 stars.

What I liked most about the book, was the atmosphere and imagery of the PNW. But overall it was a little slow moving for me and didn’t grasp my attention to binge read it, as much as I hoped it would.

There are a lot of moving parts in this book but they are easy to follow. A murder is dressed up like a suicide and Elijah is arrested and tried for it. That is the main timeline but it also jumps around to before he left town to try and become a famous author and when he returned after failing. I liked the various timelines and the inclusion of diary entries from the victim. I liked the labyrinth established by the killer even if the ending seemed too rushed and simplistic. And I appreciated that the author didn't try and use an existing Indigenous Tribe to finagle a connection but instead made her own so as not to provide an inaccurate representation. It worked for me!

I initially picked this book up because I heard the author on a running podcast and was intrigued. I am really glad I did. I am not always one to enjoy books set in small towns. Often, the towns are quirky which can be code for unrealistic, weird, or even offensive. Sometimes there are too many characters and too much drama. Drama, yes, you'll find that in Sarah Crouch's Middletide, but you will also find a lovely sense of place, characters with a lot to lose (and a lot to gain) as they explore their past and present selves and desire changes for the future despite the losses they've experienced, and beautiful writing.

I thoroughly enjoyed Elijah's story. His flaws were apparent, but as the mystery progresses, so were others in his small town. The setting of the Pacific Northwest was just incredible. I've traveled to the region some, and truly felt the author did a great job in that regard. I enjoyed Elijah and Nakita's relationship as it ebbed and flowed, though I was annoyed at some of her father's actions (maybe that's cultural, maybe that's because the book was set in the 1990s). My biggest complaint with the book was Dr. Erin Landry. I felt like some aspects of her character were believable, but others seemed too far fetched for the time period - she seemed ahead of her time in regards to political/cultural norms especially in the region. I didn't understand why she came to live there. Something was just off about her. But overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit and would recommend it to others. 3.75 stars rounded up

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I would call this book more of a mystery than a thriller. The writing in this book was superb and the layering of the storylines was so well-done. The depth within which Crouch developed the main characters was brilliantly captivating, leaving the reader with a feeling that you knew these people in real life. The book is part small-town life, part love story, part prodigal son returns, part mystery. This was not a heart-pounding creepy thriller filled with jump scares. It was a more intelligent novel -- a captivating whodunnit mystery with so many memorable characters in a charming small town, you almost forgot you were reading a whodunnit mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review!

They were accurate in saying it was similar to Where the Crawdads Sing. However, I felt like it lacked the same depth. I felt like the author spent a lot of time explaining him living off the land again and not a lot of time on the bigger picture of whodunnit. The ending felt rushed and it didn’t pack a punch like the author thought it would. Maybe I was expecting it to be too much like a thriller and not just a crime fiction. Overall, the book had a good concept but the execution just fell short for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I didn’t really know what to rate this book but I think I’m gonna land on 2.5 rounded up.

There were a few things I loved but also a few things that weren’t my favorite.

Right away I loved the setting of the story with the Pacific Northwest and the woods and the water and the small town near the reservation.

One thing that was hard for me right away was the timing. I had to keep flipping back to keep track of where I was in the order of events.

It was a page turner in the beginning until it wasn’t. The end wound up feeling very rushed and just felt like the final events and twist were all spelt out. I was almost hoping for one more twist that left me shocked.

I do feel like there’s a lot of potential here so I would look for another book by this author.

Thank you netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

Middletide is a slow burn but it does catch your attention right away. I absolutely love the PNW which had me wanting to read this right away! The last half is faster paced than the first half. The first half is a little dull.

Elijah is a failed author but writes a novel that is very similar to the situation surrounding Erin, a girl found dead on his property. Elijah maintains his innocence but ends up going to trial for her murder.

I was hoping for a bigger ending and kind of thought it just... ended. But overall this was good!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

A quiet uniquely written small town mystery set in the beautiful PNW with gorgeous atmospheric prose.

Disquiet descends on a small town when the beautiful young doctor is discovered dead and all clues point to the reclusive young man who returned to the community he abandoned years prior to chase big city dreams. Elijah Leif returns to his childhood home after his first foray into publishing flops. With a derelict cabin and a large swath of forest his deceased father left for him, he settles in to live on the land and hopefully rekindle a relationship with his first love. After Dr. Erin Landry is discovered lifeless on the periphery of his land, clues are uncovered that suspiciously look like the plot of Elijah Leif’s own novel.

Told in an alternating timeline, the story focuses on a man trying to reignite his passion for life as he navigates his daily life on the land, the mystery surrounding the doctor’s death, and a rekindled romance between Elijah & Nakita, who he had originally betrayed. It’s a slow-burn literary murder mystery that includes thoughtful discussions on grief, identity, and hope.

If you’re looking to settle in for some quiet murder mystery vibes, reminiscent to Where the Crawdads Sing, then I highly recommend adding this beautifully written debut to your TBR.

Lots of time jumping, which is always challenging for me when reading digitally. However, the book was beautifully written and had me interested from the start. Multiple POVs, murder mystery genre, with beautiful imagery throughout.
Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the digital ARC.

Thank you so much for the advanced copy! There are so many good books coming out on 6/11….which also happens to be my birthday 🥳
I loved Middletide. This is the definition of an atmospheric novel. I will say it was a little slow to start but I got into it with time. It was also tricky reading on a Kindle because I couldn’t go back easily and figure out if the chapter year was before or after the last one. But overall- enjoyed the multiple layers to this novel and the love stories intertwined into the thrills and small town feels

4.5 Not at all what I was expecting, this was a surprise in a GOOD way. This was definitely part mystery, but this also incorporates romance storylines, small town drama, and some lovely nature descriptions. I thought the 90s setting was a perfect fit for this story.

The author did get me when the journal entries were found. I genuinely was angry at our main character and absolutely hooked at this point. This was a nice slow burn unfolding of relationships and machinations. I really enjoyed this!


I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lauren Crouch, and Atria Books for early access to this title in exchange for an honest review. What an excellent debut! This extremely atmospheric and well written novel takes place in Washington state and follows Elijah Leith who has recently returned it the area he grew up. Elijah is a “failed” author whose book revolves around a death and the local town doctor turns up dead under the exact same circumstances as written by Elijah in his book. It’s told in past and present POVs which at first made it difficult to get into the story but once I understood what was happening and how the timelines fit together I was able to get invested into the story. There were similar vibes to Where the Crawdads Sing and if you enjoyed that book I’d highly recommend picking this one up. It releases on June 11th!