Mill River Redemption (NetGalley DRC)
Darcie Chan
Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence—Plato
Josi DiSanti had taken refuge in Mill River twenty-some years earlier after the death of her husband Tony. With daughters Emily and Rose snuggled in beside her and Aunt Ivy at the wheel, her small family was on the run. In Mill River she’d found a new beginning and rediscovered hope. Now her adult daughters return to Mill River for what they assume might be one last visit—this time to say their final good-byes to the mother who had sacrificed so much to keep them safe.
But as in most families, the past colors the present and Emily and Rose are in no mood to spend any more time together than they must. No longer two peas in a pod, the sisters couldn’t be more different. Emily, single and independent, has traveled from her latest house renovation; all her belongings and her devoted dog Gus fit in her old Subaru. Rose drives a BMW and that just about sums her up–she has a Wall Street husband, designer shoes, Manhattan apartment, and a trophy young son. The girls are sniping at each other before the memorial service even begins.
But Josi had anticipated their animosity and she spoke from the grave to force their hand: the sisters wouldn’t inherit her estate until they solved clues together in a sort of a last will and testament scavenger hunt. But of course they can’t work together or there wouldn’t be much of a novel here!
Insults fly, words barb, actions sting. And tragedy brings them together.
This is the sort of novel that is an easy recommend to anyone averse to steamy love scenes or course language. Someone who likes a story with a pretty straightforward plot. My almost-eighty mom, for example—she’d love this. It’s a little bit Kate Morton and a little bit Jan Karon. And there’s a doozy of a twist at the end that will make you either love Darcie Chan’s latest … or not.
This is my symphony 