What a fun puzzle, along a nice story about an aspiring writer who wants to get back to his roots (sort of) after his dreams didn’t work out in the big city. He goes back to Puget Sound (great atmospheric detail) in Washington State and before you know it, there is a dead woman hanging on a tree, and while it might LOOK like a suicide, there is way more to this mystery than first appears.

In previous efforts, author Sarah Crouch respresented the U.S. in the Olympic marathon…and now she has begun what I suspect will be a good career as a mystery novelist. Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for this honest review. It is a solid four stars, might have been five but I’m midway through some medical treatment that has interfered with my focus…but I actually loved it so it is highly recommended.