This was really good! It took me quite a while to get through it (personal reasons, no fault of the book at all) but it gave perfectly suspenseful vibes and felt like I was watching an intriguing documentary!!

This book was a little less mystery than I was anticipating, but I still enjoyed it. I really loved how atmospheric it was.

I thought the writing was fantastic, but you need to be prepared for more of a slow burn.

I loved how the timeline was constructed for this book - it was a series of flashbacks and flash-forwards from multiple different perspectives. It added to the mystery and mystique of the MMC and the small town where the book was set. Part murder mystery, part thriller, and part romance, Middletide will have you questioning everything and everyone. I did figure out the twist fairly quickly (there is a very famous thriller with a similar twist so it was in my mind as a possibility) but still enjoyed the book.

Middletide offers a quiet, atmospheric story, but it struggles to leave a strong impression. The novel is set in a coastal town where the tides mirror the emotional ebbs and flows of the characters' lives. While the setting is beautifully described, providing a vivid sense of place, the plot itself feels meandering and lacks momentum.

The characters are well-drawn, yet the story’s slow pace makes it hard to fully invest in their journeys. The themes of reflection, change, and the passage of time are present, but they sometimes feel repetitive, preventing the novel from reaching a deeper emotional or thematic resonance.

For readers who appreciate subtle, introspective storytelling and enjoy novels that focus more on mood and setting than plot, Middletide will provide a serene reading experience. However, for those seeking a more dynamic or impactful story, this one may feel underwhelming. It’s a pleasant read, but not particularly memorable.

The premise of this book was fascinating and captivating. The writing was smooth and the chapters flowed very nicely. The story jumped around to various time periods and people and sometimes was a bit jumpy but it served the story well. I enjoyed this atmospheric, mysterious, coming of age, multi layered story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

Two and a half stars rounded up. This isn't a bad book, it's just incredibly slow paced. I've seen comparisions to Where the Crawdads Sing, and I can definitely see that. There's a lot of living off the land and living in isolation.

I almost quit half way through but I was very curious about who the killer was so I stuck with it and I'm glad I did. The big reveal is worth it.

There's a lot of mystery here, a love story, and a court case.

Middletide is a well constructed mystery thriller by debut author Sarah Crouch. Released 11th June 2024 by Simon & Schuster on their Atria imprint, it's 288 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out late 2nd quarter 2025 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

The author has an impressive facility with setting and the tension and politics between the local (non-native) and folks living on the reservation were deep and well rendered. The characters are three dimensional with believable motivations and drives and the mystery itself is well constructed.

It's not a cozy mystery and there are edges to the descriptions and themes, but it is well written, with a clear and direct voice. The story is told in scattershot flashbacks, but all the chapters are labeled with dates, so it's not too confusing. There are also some slightly overblown plot elements including an 11th hour courtroom denouement that was over-the-top, but again, generally well written and engaging.

Three and a half stars. Well done and, especially for a debut novel, worth a look.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Oh, I absolutely adored this! The vibes were incredible: if you like small town mysteries and tight knit, misty vibes, this is going to be a book you'll find yourself quickly immersed in and captivated by. There were a few parts I found slightly slower, like maybe this could be slightly shorter if edited differently, and so it'd be quicker to get through without that slog bit towards the middle, but overall I liked the pacing for most of the story and didn't find myself struggling to finish.

I went into this one blind and came out with some mixed responses.

Overall, I think this is a solid read that is well-executed. The story line is intriguing and pulls you in. The characters are well-drawn and rounded. The location and setting is also alluring and kept me wanting to come back for more.

However, I had a little trouble with the fictional indigenous group that was used as the backdrop for this story. I'm still not sure what I feel about that. On the one hand, it's fiction and using a fictional group allows the author better control and imagining (and, perhaps, license) to create the world she wants. On the other hand, it could be a missed opportunity to show a real indigenous group that allows the real history to come through with agency and authenticity.

But overall, I thought the mystery was well-paced and it kept me turning the pages. I will be back for the next novel by Crouch to see where she goes from here.

4.25/5

Funnily enough, my sister is the one who told me about Middletide and convinced me I should read it because she had been seeing it everywhere. It also doesn't hurt that my sister is a huge runner and Sarah Crouch is a professional marathon runner. 😉 I'm glad she talked me into it though because this was a fantastic debut! I appreciated the author's note at the beginning and where she got her inspiration for the fictitious Squalomah culture from being noted before the reader even starts. I really enjoyed the various viewpoints as well which made this into a romance, mystery, and crime/detective fiction novel all rolled into one.

I listened to the audiobook as well as kept the book handy, and I am exceedingly glad I went this route. I thought Kaleo Griffith did an excellent job as the narrator despite the multiple viewpoints, but I did find myself getting confused with the various time jumps at first. I was having a tough time keeping track of the timelines, but I finally caught on, and having the book helped a ton. The resolution of the mystery itself completely shocked me, and I didn't see it coming at all. I did find the pacing to be a bit on the slower side, but it was steady enough that I never got bored. I would be keen to check out whatever Crouch writes next and would recommend Middletide to readers who like a steady pace, a twisty but emotional mystery, and lots of layers.

Who would have thought that you wrote a book and someone copies it to the t for a murder, which then gets blamed on you. Elijah moves back to Point Orchards after failing as a writer and his father passes away. He starts to clean up his father's land and house plus lives off that land. Elijah ends up dating the local doctor and then Dr. Erin ends up dead. Elijah is automatically put as the suspect and finds himself defending himself.

I loved the writing and the unfolding of the story. There is a lot of back and forth to past and present.

Thank you #NetGalley for the advance copy!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc. I was originally interested in this book because others have said it similar to where the crawdads sing. It does have parts that are similar, but not as much as I was anticipating some parts are fast and some parts are slow, but overall a decent read three out of five stars.

I really enjoyed this! I thought the love story amid the murder mystery was a nice touch. I love that their love story had levels and history. It was very atmospheric and bingeable.

.3.5 stars
I’m so sorry to do this to a debut— it seems I am totally in the minority, but this was a sludggggge for me. Soooo slowwww.

At first, I got sucked in with the scenery and descriptive qualities that reminded me of Crawdads (minus a marsh)… and a small town mystery, but then the backstory was not at the pace I desired to solve a mystery. It was way too character driven and chunks of time in the cabin/around the house could have been left out. I did enjoy a book within a book, that's one of my favorite tropes.

Similar to Crawdads, it ends with a trial, so there’s that😆

A gripping and atmospheric whodunit mystery. Overall an interesting plot, a bit of a slow burn that culminates in a satisfying twist. A solid read but would have benefited from better pacing

This was so good! Giving 4 stars instead of 5 because I got a bit bored in the middle, but it all made sense at the end during Elijah's trial.

Highlights:
✨Blended Genres: This book defies easy categorization. It incorporates elements of coming of age, crime fiction, a book within a book, and a slow-burn whodunit mystery.
✨I struggled with why the author included a fictitious Indigenous tribe that practices Christianity.
✨Narration: Kaleo Griffith's narration enhances the story, making it captivating and easy to follow across all timelines. Quick listen.

Bottom Line: The debut novel beautifully captures the PNW setting and effectively delves into themes of grief and loss. But, the strange romance, implausible murder investigation, and underwhelming courtroom scenes resulted in me not loving this one as much as others did.

4 Stars

This book had a very interesting plot that was the star of this book. This is a murder mystery with a crazy twist! I didn't feel like I got to know the characters very well though. They were all just kind of there. Otherwise this would of been a 4.5 Stars. But I did enjoy the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the opportunity to read this book.

Elijah returns to his small, rural PNW hometown after a failed writing career in his 20s.
Now in his 30s his debut novel proved less than stellar and now out of print, Middletide seems eerily similar to his real life situation. Dr. Erin Landry, his ex girlfriend, is found deceased on his property and all the evidence points to him as the prime suspect.
Can he prove to everyone and his childhood love, Nakita, of his innocence?

The mannerisms between Elijah, law enforcement, and the entire courtroom scenes come off as strongly unrealistic. It felt rushed and disconnected me as a reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for allowing me to read and review Middletide.

This little mystery was so easy to read and a quick read as well. I only had one real issue with it, and that is it jumped around too much. What I liked a lot was that it was told in more than one timeline, so as I read the book I could look for clues of things in the "past timeline" to see if/what I could figure out...I'm definitely not very good detective material.

It starts with a very pastoral and serene setting with a couple people fishing. That scene resonated with me until there was a discovery of a dead body. That began a mystery with twists and turns, and one that was told in such a way that I really could feel like I was a detective. Nothing is usually exactly as it seems and such was the case with this mystery.

I also loved the characters of Elijah and Nakita and how relatable they were. Both were down to earth and struggled with aspects of their lives (as most of us do), so seeing them as real people with character flaws and all, they were just so likable.