Mary Lou Turkington Books

Murphy then reviews the path that led her there: She grew up in the Adirondacks as the only child of a widowed father and eventually became a teacher but had troubles with a drinking problem. She escaped to Alaska, got sober and landed a job in another part of Maine. Three years later, Murphy came to Mundy for a fresh start and to explore secrets that her now deceased father “had been hinting at.” She secures a short-term diner-waitress job, starts a flirtation with Grimes and attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. She soon learns how nearly everyone in town is interconnected—including several people who have ties to the drunk woman, Sheila. Murphy finds that some locals recoil when they hear her last name, and the hostility increases when Sheila, last seen dealing drugs at a local event, turns up dead. Murphy is accused of being a narc and even gets run off the road a few times. She soon finds out more about the local Murphy family and has a final showdown with Mundy’s criminal kingpin. Quinn delivers an engaging contemporary tale featuring a relatable, often rueful heroine who sometimes ruminates on her personal struggles but also dwells on how much she wants Grimes’ body (“Some girls think uniforms are sexy but Hal looked more luscious in civvies and more obtainable. Yum!”). The novel also effectively captures the bleakness and insularity of a small town, as well as the paranoia of a recovering alcoholic. Although some readers may figure out some of the plot’s revelations before Murphy does, her slower response time fits with her character’s tendencies toward denial and avoidance. Overall, it adds up to a promising and entertaining debut novel. A dark, twisty small-town thriller featuring an often amusing, engagingly flawed heroine.