Format: Hardcover, 448 pages
Release Date: December 28, 2021
Publisher: MIRA
Source: Publisher
Genre: Thrillers / Suspense
New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan's suspenseful new mass market original about a college senior's podcast that delves into an unsolved campus murder of a sorority girl three years earlier, as individual callers explode every fact previously thought to be true.
Lucas Vega is obsessed with the death of Candace Swain, who left a sorority party one night and never came back. Her body was found two weeks later, and the case has grown cold. Three years later while interning at the Medical Examiner's, Lucas discovers new information, but the police are not interested.
Lucas knows he has several credible pieces of the puzzle, he just isn't sure how they fit together. So he creates a podcast to revisit Candace's last hours. He asks listeners to crowdsource what they remember and invites guest lecturer, former US Marshal Regan Merritt, to come on and share her expertise.
New tips come in that convince Lucas and Regan they are onto something. Then shockingly one of the podcast callers turns up dead. Another hints at Candace's secret life...a much darker picture than Lucas imagined—and one that implicates other sorority sisters. Regan uses her own resources to bolster their theory and learns that Lucas is hiding his own dark secret. The pressure is to solve the murder, but first Lucas must come clean about his real motives in pursuing this podcast – before the killer silences him forever.
Allison Brennan's The Sorority Murder is an original story about a college senior's capstone project podcast that delves into an unsolved campus murder of a sorority girl three years earlier, as individual callers explode every fact previously thought to be true. Lucas Vega is obsessed with the death of Candace Swain, who left a sorority party one night and never came back. Her body was found almost 10 days later, and the case has grown cold. Three years ago, while interning at the Medical Examiner's office, Lucas discovered new information about Candace's death, but the police are not interested.
The lead detective truly believes that a homeless man who was last seen making a nuisance of himself at the yearly Spring Fling was responsible for Candace's death. Lucas knows he has several credible pieces of the puzzle, he just isn't sure how they fit together. So he creates a podcast to revisit Candace's last hours along with his producer Lizzy Choi. With the recommendation of Lucas's adviser, Regan Merritt, a former US Marshal who left the service after the murder of her only son, and the implosion of her marriage due to the murder, decides to see what she can do to guide Lucas and hopefully keep him out of trouble.
As the clues start coming forward, and the callers paint a picture of a girl, who by all outward appearances was a sweet girl who would give the shirt off her back if you needed help, who suddenly became sullen and closed off from her friends. As Regan gets further involved in the case, and she starts meeting the key characters who know more than they are saying, she realizes that Lucas has opened a hornet's nest, and if she's not careful, she could end up in a dangerous web of deceit by someone who is about as evil as they come while having the outward personality of a caring, cherishing person who everyone can rely on.
Then shockingly one of the podcast callers turns up dead. Another hints at Candace's secret life...a much darker picture than Lucas imagined—and one that implicates other sorority sisters in yet another possible murder that was covered up. Regan uses her own resources to bolster their theory and learns that Lucas is hiding his own dark secret. A secret that will expose an entire group of women who did the wrong thing at the wrong time and nobody took responsibility for their actions. The pressure is to solve the murder, but first Lucas must come clean about his real motives in pursuing this podcast – before the killer silences him forever.
I would gladly read any story that involved Regan as a spin-off if the author is so inclined. I think she is a wonderful character who puts her own skills, and training, and know how as a US Marshal to investigate lead after lead and while trying to keep Lucas, as well as Lizzy, alive. I liked her relationship with her father who not once pushed her into making a decision about what she's going to do next. Regan needs a happy ending, and I hope she one day gets it. Lucas can be forgiven for his obsession in discovering the truth about Candace since it directly affects someone from his past and her family who were looking for answers and closure. Unfortunately, there
was a lot of repetition that could have been eliminated in the final draft. The pacing of the story was also slow.
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