This book is pure controlled chaos on the page—razor-sharp, atmospheric, and viciously well written. The prose has that rare quality where every sentence feels deliberate, weighted, and quietly threatening. It doesn’t rush to impress; it hunts. The author trusts the reader, letting tension bleed through implication, silence, and the spaces between what’s said and what’s withheld. The result is a reading experience that feels immersive, unsettling, and impossible to shake.
What truly elevates this novel is its command of tone. It leans hard into Southern Gothic darkness—decay beneath polish, privilege masquerading as respectability, and truths buried so deep they’ve warped everything above them. The writing is lean but loaded, feral in its restraint, and unafraid to sit in moral discomfort. Power, greed, identity, and buried sins aren’t announced—they seep into the narrative until they stain everything. The psychological weight builds steadily, tightening with every chapter until you’re reading faster not because of action, but because the pressure is unbearable.
This is storytelling that understands pacing at a molecular level. The red herrings are smart, the misdirection subtle, and the payoff devastating because it’s earned through craft, not shock tactics. When the truth finally surfaces, it feels inevitable and horrifying in equal measure—the kind of ending that makes you stare at the page for a moment before closing the book.
A brutal, elegant, and deeply satisfying read. Five stars, no hesitation

While this book almost reads like a true crime novel, its dark, edgy quality, that captures you from the beginning, makes it a great addition to the southern gothic murder mystery genre.

Dr. Janie O’Conner has disappeared. She’s just broken off her engagement to Phillip Carruthers, Savannah billionaire, and all fingers are pointing at him. Detectives Frank and Pepper are assigned the case. Over a period of time clues come in but the case seems to be going nowhere, in part because of the long arm of the Carruthers. But Frank’s gut is telling himself is off. When some of Janie’s bones and a tooth are discovered, the FBI is brought in and things get serious. The twists and red herrings are good and when the reveal comes, it’s a shocker - or at least to me it was.

The book explores themes of power, greed, identity,and buried secrets including moral ambiguity and the complexities of love and sacrifice.

This is a real page turner. I highly recommend.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Girl Friday Press for allowing me to read this ARC.

A successful and popular surgeon does missing. Dr Janie O'Connor recently broke her engagement with the CEO (Phillip Carruthers) of the most successful companies in Savannah. Missing without a trace, the case soon turns into a murder. Local police detectives have a hard time gaining access to the Carruthers family. All the evidence is pointing to the elusive family and the staff. This was an exciting, extremely fast paced and very entertaining story.  The twists will give you several "a-ha" moments.