#published may 2024

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

The Last Murder at the End of the World is a sort of locked room, time-is-running-out-to-save-the-world whodunnit. It's set against a post-apocalyptic world where a deadly fog has swept over the planet and killed mostly everyone, save the few villagers and scientists who have managed to survive on a tiny island. When one of the lead scientists is murdered in cold blood, it is up to Emory, a villager who has always been on the outs for asking too many questions, to solve it before the fog destroys everything and everyone she loves.

With the clock ticking, and only 92 hours to go, Emory must leave no stone unturned, whittling down the answer in a place where everyone is a suspect.

I liked that this had sensibilities of The Ferryman by Justin Cronin with its utopia/dystopia polarity and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak with its amoral and omniscient AI narrator. It gave the plot a cerebral sci-fi pulse that I thought was interesting. It enabled readers to look at what was happening to and with the characters from a more detached perspective. Emory was a good protagonist. Willful. Defiant. Constantly asking questions. Unabashed about her proclivity towards critical thinking. I liked being with her as she sorted through clues, motives, and false leads.

The story did stall at times, with the murder mystery portions dragging on in spots and with a bevy of characters who felt tangential to the plot at best, but all in all, this was complex and multilayered. I enjoyed the way it dangled questions of humanity and morality under my nose, especially since the answers were almost always ambiguous.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC in exchange for my review!

3.5/5 stars

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[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

Book Review: Knife River by Justine Champine

Knife River is a captivating debut that centers around a pair of sisters, Jess and Liz, who are anguished over their mother's unsolved disappearance. While one of them (Jess) has taken to running from the tragedy, living a nomadic existence as she skips from city to city, girlfriend to girlfriend, the other (Liz), has remained behind in their hometown, cloistered in their old family home and pouring over missing persons cases.

Fifteen years have lapsed when the call they've been waiting for yet dreading comes through: their mother's remains have been discovered.

This sends Jess back to Knife River in the hopes of finally finding closure. Of having an answer. However, with their mother's bones having been exposed to the elements for so long, any evidence they had hoped to find has run cold, with leads running stale and old suspects haunting them like a specter, leaving them with more questions than ever.

This was more of an atmospheric, character-driven exploration of grief than it was a cold case thriller, but I found that was what gave the story resonance and poignancy. Because of that, the strokes of the plot are more introspective in nature, with more internal rather than external movement happening. It's less about solving the case than it is about readers gaining insight into how this profound trauma has equally, but diametrically, frozen Jess and Liz and time. They're both stuck. Stagnated. Up to their chins in sorrow, and fear, and puzzlement--with neither one of them knowing how to move on.

The story's main strength was demonstrating how the two sisters were tethered by this tragic event. I liked seeing their enduring bond, also the way love and hurt and mystery twisted how they each coped with the loss of their mother. I did think Jess's romantic entanglements left something to be desired, though. They felt disjointed, distracting at times, leaving me feeling unmoored and uninterested. That said, I did think this was an intimate and harrowing portrayal of grief.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my review.

3/5 stars

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