AUTHOR: Jaime Jo Wright
DATE: 2018
PUBLISHER: Bethany House
STARS: *****
For over a century, the town of Gossamer Grove has thrived on its charm and midwestern values, but Annalise Forsythe knows painful secrets, including her own, hover just beneath the pleasant facade. When a man is found dead in his run-down trailer home, Annalise inherits the trailer, along with the pictures, vintage obituaries, and old revival posters covering its walls. As she sorts through the collection, she's wholly unprepared for the ramifications of the dark and deadly secrets she'll uncover.
A century earlier, Gossamer Grove has been stirred into chaos by the arrival of controversial and charismatic twin revivalists. The chaos takes a murderous turn when Libby Sheffield, working at her father's newspaper, receives an obituary for a reputable church deacon hours before his death. As she works with the deacon's son to unravel the mystery behind the crime, it becomes undeniably clear that a reckoning has come to town--but it isn't until another obituary arrives that they realize the true depths of the danger they've waded into.
Two women, separated by a hundred years, must uncover the secrets within the borders of their own town before it's too late and they lose their future--or their very souls.
The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond is a haunting tale of past, hidden sins and their cascading effect on future generations. Swinging from one century to the next, we meet two troubled young women, each hiding a devasting secret. While both their stories are shadowy and tainted by death, the courage and growing faith of these heroines shine a light into the dismal haze of circumstances.
I enjoyed getting to know both Annalise and Libby, so different yet similar. The plot held me captive until the very end, with each chapter revealing just a bit of the mystery. The supporting casts in both centuries were well defined. Finding out from the author’s notes that the wild twin revivalists were based on characters from the time added even more realism.
This story will linger in my mind, and I award it five stars. Recommended. Book was provided by Graf Martin Communications and Baker Publishing.