Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her eighteenth birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist… until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew.

With the entire summer now looming ahead—a summer spent with nothing to do in her childhood home, with her estranged mother—Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina less than an hour away from where she grew up. At first glance, Galloway is an idyllic escape for Claire. A scenic retreat full of slow-paced nostalgia, as well as a place where her sister seemed truly happy in that last summer before she vanished, it feels like the perfect plan to pass the time. However, as soon as Claire starts to settle in, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard’s owners, and what at first seems like a story of young rebellion and love turns into something much more sinister as it begins to describe details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary’s contents… as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister’s disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.

Galloway was supposed to be a place to help her move forward, but instead, Claire quickly finds herself immersed in her own dark and dangerous past.

This was my second book by this author, and one thing that really stands out to me is how beautiful and lyrical her writing is, especially for a mystery/thriller author. You don’t often get such lush, descriptive writing in this genre, and I loved being completely immersed in the story. Everything felt vivid and atmospheric, with so many details that brought the setting to life.

I listened to the audiobook with two narrators, and they both did a wonderful job. They really brought the characters and story to life, and this was one of those audiobooks I could easily turn on and listen to for hours. There is some language, including the f-bomb, but no spice.

The story moves between past and present timelines, and I was equally invested in both. Usually, one timeline pulls me in more than the other, but this book did a great job of making me care about both stories and the characters within them. There is also a book-within-a-book element, which I normally don’t love, but I thought it was handled really well here. I actually enjoyed those sections and became very curious about how everything would connect.

This is definitely a slow-burn mystery for readers who enjoy becoming immersed in the setting and gradually uncovering what is happening. It’s not a fast-paced, action-packed thriller. There is much more mystery and sleuthing than there are big, thrilling moments, but I didn’t mind that at all. At times, it almost had a Scooby-Doo mystery vibe, which I thought was a lot of fun.

As for the characters, Claire was just okay for me. She didn’t have much of a personality, so there wasn’t anything about her that really stood out to me as the main character. She was pretty forgettable. Then there was her best friend, Ryan, who honestly didn’t even need to be included. You could have removed him from the story entirely, and I don’t think much would have changed. Still, they were tolerable characters to follow, and I was interested enough in what was happening around them to keep rooting for them.

Overall, the story was a bit predictable, but it still had some nice twists and turns along the way. There isn’t anything particularly original here, and I’ve definitely read some of these tropes before, but I was still entertained. I enjoyed uncovering what was happening and seeing how all the different pieces eventually tied together.

I will definitely read more from this author and would recommend this one to anyone looking for a summertime mystery. It would make a great quick beach read or a fun pick for Summerween. There is an eerie, unsettling feeling woven throughout the story that adds just enough creepiness without turning it into something too dark. It was an atmospheric and entertaining mystery that kept me curious until the end.