Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
Release Date: April 19, 2022
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Mystery / Suspense
Annie McIntyre has a love/hate relationship with Garnett, Texas.
Recently
graduated from college and home waitressing, lacking not in ambition
but certainly in direction, Annie is lured into the family business—a
private investigation firm—by her supposed-to-be-retired grandfather,
Leroy, despite the rest of the clan’s misgivings.
When a waitress
at the café goes missing, Annie and Leroy begin an investigation that
leads them down rural routes and haunted byways, to noxious-smelling oil
fields and to the glowing neon of local honky-tonks. As Annie works to
uncover the truth she finds herself identifying with the victim in
increasing, unsettling ways, and realizes she must confront her own
past—failed romances, a disturbing experience she’d rather forget, and
the trick mirror of nostalgia itself—if she wants to survive this
homecoming.
Friday Night Lights meets Sue Grafton in this small-town mystery about an unlikely private investigator searching for a missing waitress. Pay Dirt Road is the mesmerizing debut from the 2019 Tony Hillerman Prize recipient Samantha Jayne Allen. Annie McIntyre has returned home after 4 years of college and is now a full time waitress. The problem is that she lives in a small town called Garnett, Texas where everyone knows everyone and hardly everyone ever leaves, and those who have, are likely well off.
Annie often wonders why she didn't continue to pursue a degree in law, instead of partying with her former school mates, and her cousin Nikki Avery. After attending a party with Nikki, Annie learns of the death of her co-worker Victoria who has a young daughter and is in the middle of a divorce. Annie decides to join her grandfather Leroy's private investigation firm known as McIntyre Investigations to track down what really happened to Victoria, as well as another fatality which happend that same night.
Annie is a rookie under the tutelage of Mary Pat, her grandfather's partner, and digging into places that could get her killed. Land grabs, shady dealings, powerful families and proof that not all the cowboys in white hats are the good guys. When the threats start, will Annie be able to pull the pieces together, or will she just be another murder victim? Pay Dirt Road is both a mystery and a story of family relationships and small town suspicions in Garnett, Texas, where Annie's past comes back to haunt her, and more than one person in her past may have played a part in Victoria's murder.
As Annie works to
uncover the truth behind Victoria's disappearance and murder, she finds herself identifying with the victim in
increasing, unsettling ways, and realizes she must confront her own
past—failed romances, a disturbing experience she’d rather forget, and
the trick mirror of nostalgia itself—if she wants to survive this
homecoming.
There's an interesting dynamic in play between Annie's grandfather, and Annie herself. 20 years ago, her grandfather became famous by solving a murder, and by now, should be retired. His relationship with Annie's father is frayed, and yet, there's no real resolution in this story. Annie should be attending school to become a lawyer, not waitressing in her hometown. Much of the this story is developing the main characters which has me curious if there will be a sequel.
No comments:
Post a Comment