All Good People Here

Let's check out All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers

Goodreads Stats

Why I Read This Book/How I Heard About It

I read this book because my co-worker, Hannah, recommended it! She said it was gripping and kept her guessing until the very end.

Goodreads Summary

Everyone from Wakarusa, Indiana, remembers the case of January Jacobs, who was found dead in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Margot Davies was six at the time, the same age as January—and they were next-door neighbors. In the twenty years since, Margot has grown up, moved away, and become a big-city journalist, but she’s always been haunted by the fear that it could’ve been her. And the worst part is, January’s killer has never been brought to justice.

When Margot returns home to help care for her sick uncle, it feels like walking into a time capsule. Wakarusa is exactly how she remembered: genial, stifled, secretive. Then news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who’s gone missing under eerily similar circumstances. With all the old feelings rushing back, Margot vows to find Natalie and solve January’s murder once and for all.

But the police, the family, the townspeople—they all seem to be hiding something. And the deeper Margot digs into Natalie’s disappearance, the more resistance she encounters, and the colder January’s case feels. Could the killer still be out there? Could it be the same person who kidnapped Natalie? And what will it cost to finally discover what truly happened that night?

In the propulsive debut novel from the host of the #1 true crime podcast "Crime Junkie," a journalist uncovers her hometown’s dark secrets when she becomes obsessed with the unsolved murder of her childhood neighbor—and the disappearance of another girl twenty years later.

First Impressions

Clearly, Ashley Flowers is a great writer. I loved the fact that the entire story was set in Indiana, so there was a nice familiar touch to it. I am new to the Mystery genre, but I have to say it's been very enjoyable so far. I always try to outsmart the author and guess the ending and I've come close on a lot of them, but never QUITE nailed the resolution. Perhaps I'll get better at it the more I read in the genre?

Can you even imagine trying to write a mystery novel? As a writer myself, the thought of it overwhelms me. That and very detailed historical fiction. Is there anything more loathsome than extensive research? Blech.

Final Thoughts

The twist in this story was pretty great and it took me a really long time to see it coming. And it perfectly explains everything, but it's so perplexing when you don't understand what actually happened. Because of that, this book is unputdownable. I highly recommend you pick it up.

Rating on Goodreads

I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars.

My rating method:

• I rarely rate books 5 stars. I save this for the absolute best books I've read. You know the ones...the ones that you can't get out of your head, even after you've finished them. The ones you think about for weeks afterwards.

• If a book is really, really good, I'll give it 4 stars. If you see a 4-star rating from me, I'd definitely recommend it to you to read.

• If it's just OK, it gets 3 stars. Basically, it means I could take it or leave it. I'd probably read it again because it wasn't terrible. But not like a favorite or anything.

• If I rate it 1 or 2 stars, I would not recommend anyone read it. It either didn't hold my interest or I couldn't relate to the characters/plot.