Reviewer: Kate
I received a copy of Justice for Sara by Erica Spindler in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
When seventeen-year-old Katherine McCall awakened one morning to find her beloved sister, Sara, brutally murdered, her whole life changed in the blink of an eye. Kat was named the prime suspect and, on a string of circumstantial evidence, charged and tried. While the jury found her innocent, not everyone else agreed, and her only choice was to go into hiding. But she carried a dark secret with her, one that made her worry she might actually have had something to do with Sara’s death . . .
Now, years later, Kat is still haunted by her sister’s unsolved murder and continues to receive chilling anonymous letters, but she has tried to move on with her life. Until, on the tenth anniversary of Sara’s death, she receives a letter that makes the past impossible to ignore: “What about justice for Sara?” What about justice for Sara? And for herself? Kat realizes that going back to Liberty, Louisiana, might be the only way to move forward and find some peace. And there’s a killer out there who was never caught.
But the town she’s come back to is hardly different from the one she left. The secrets and suspicions still run deep. Kat has an ally in Detective Luke Tanner, son of the former Liberty police chief, but he may be her only one. With plenty of enemies, no one to trust and a killer determined to keep a dark secret buried, Kat must decide if justice is worth fighting—and dying—for.
Review:
In Justice for Sara we get a murder mystery and romance all rolled up neatly into one, and it works. While the whole cop falls for suspect routine has been done over and over, the cliché works here and serves the movement of the story. Erica Spindler invites us into the world of secrets and lies, and what Kat and Luke learn about themselves and their families is interesting. There are always skeletons in the closet, some creepier than others. And these are some pretty creepy skeletons.
The narrative style is tight, one segment leading closely to the next. In some ways I found this storytelling style monotonous and predictable; but on the other hand, there is an order to the book that helps the reader keep up with the twists and turns, the flashbacks and internal dialogue. The story jumps between present day and a decade earlier at the time of the murder. In small towns, perhaps all towns, it’s interesting to see how nothing changes and everything changes. This story in a nutshell is about perspective, like a neo-impressionist Seurat painting—just tiny dots up close but as you back away a true picture reveals itself. The murder is just one tiny dot in the complex composition of Liberty living, a place in which everyone knows everybody and all their business or so people think.
For anyone who has ever left home and come back to find it fits a little too tight, you will identify with this book. But there are some demons you have to face, and here Kat stands up to fight the battle to get Justice for Sara. This is a great summer read, perfect for a hammock or lounge chair, sipping iced tea or a mint julep.
4 Stars
