ARROWOOD (2016)

Arrowood by Laura McHugh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's been months since I felt like reading with being sick and in the hospital. ARROWOOD was a perfect reintroduction to feeling normal again. It had all the elements I love in a gothic mystery: an old house, a creepy groundskeeper, and unsolved family secrets.

THE FIRST LINE: "I used to play a game where I imagined that someone had abandoned me in a strange, unknown place and I had to find my way back home."

THE STORY: Arden Arrowood was playing outside with her baby twin sisters when they disappeared forever. All these years later, she still holds out hope that they are alive somewhere. The man who was imprisoned has maintained his innocence.

Now Arden is returning to her childhood home to try to put her life back together. The house, the neighbors, and the community all know parts of the past that can solve the puzzle.

WHAT I THOUGHT: After having read Laura McHugh's first mystery, the excellent The Weight of Blood, I was excited to read this second book. Without spoiling anything, I have to say that there were several places that I found hard to accept. Things happened that should have made the heroine run screaming and didn't. On the other hand, I did enjoy reading the book, my first read after emerging from a difficult medical summer. So thank you, Laura McHugh. You got me reading again!

BOTTOM LINE: Suspend disbelief and just enjoy a great gothic story.

Title: Arrowood

Author: Laura Hughes

Genre: Gothic Mystery

Publisher: Spiegel & Grau

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

No. of Pages: 288

Copyright: August 9, 2016

ISBN-10: 0812996399

ISBN-13: 978-0812996395

Disclaimer: An advanced reading copy (ARC) of this book was provided to me by Net Galley for an honest review.

Laura McHugh is the author of The Weight of Blood, winner of an International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel and a Silver Falchion Award for Best First Novel: Literary Suspense. The Weight of Blood was named a Best Book of the Year by BookPage, the Kansas City Star, and the Sunday Times (UK), and was also nominated for an Alex Award, Barry Award, and GoodReads Choice Award (Best Mystery and Best Debut). Her second novel, Arrowood, will be published in 2016.

A lifelong Midwesterner, McHugh lives in Missouri with her husband and children.