Middletide
A Novel
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER
In this gripping and intensely atmospheric debut, disquiet descends on a small town after the suspicious death of a beautiful young doctor, with all clues pointing to the reclusive young man who abandoned the community in chase of big city dreams but returned for the first love he left behind. Perfect for fans of All Good People Here and Where the Crawdads Sing.
One peaceful morning, in the small, Puget Sound town of Point Orchards, the lifeless body of Dr. Erin Landry is found hanging from a tree on the property of prodigal son and failed writer, Elijah Leith. Sheriff Jim Godbout’s initial investigation points to an obvious suicide, but upon closer inspection, there seem to be clues of foul play when he discovers that the circumstances of the beautiful doctor’s death were ripped straight from the pages of Elijah Leith’s own novel.
Out of money and motivation, thirty-three-year-old Elijah returns to his empty childhood home to lick the wounds of his futile writing career. Hungry for purpose, he throws himself into restoring the ramshackle cabin his father left behind and rekindling his relationship with Nakita, the extraordinary girl from the nearby reservation whom he betrayed but was never able to forget.
As the town of Point Orchards turns against him, Elijah must fight for his innocence against an unexpected foe who is close and cunning enough to flawlessly frame him for murder in this scintillating literary thriller that seeks to uncover a case of love, loss, and revenge.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A disgraced novelist's words come back to haunt him in Crouch's cunning debut. Thirteen years ago, a poisonous pan from a Seattle book critic killed Elijah Leith's dream of a literary career. Since then, he's returned home to Point Orchards, Wash., a tiny town off the Puget Sound. When the body of beloved Point Orchards doctor Erin Landry is discovered hanging from a tree deep in the woods of Elijah's family property, police initially consider her death a suicide. But then they receive a copy of Elijah's first novel, accompanied by a note that draws attention to the uncanny similarities between Landry's death and the book's premise, which involves a murder staged to look like a suicide. Suddenly, Elijah—who briefly dated Landry while on a break from his volatile relationship with high school sweetheart Nakita—finds himself in the investigation's crosshairs. Though Crouch squanders some narrative momentum by frequently hopping between Elijah and Nakita's teenage courtship, Elijah's trial, and his homesteading efforts, she brings the action to a satisfying boil by the final act. Despite a few too-convenient coincidences, the novel's vivid prose and evocative sense of place win out in the end. Readers will be eager to see what Crouch does next.
