Book review: Their only clues were some creepy Appalachian dried apple dolls

Her new client Max Andrews is 18 years old. He lives in Quartz Greek, North Carolina, a small mountain town. Ten years ago his sister Molly vanished. She was a little girl - there has been no trace of her since. This was not a unique event. Two other young girls disappeared around that same time. Strangely, one of them was quickly returned but the other two were never seen again.

Around the same time a toy factory that provided most of the employment in this place shut down. Tragedy upon tragedy occurred; missing girls, lost jobs. How depressing. Ten years later Annie Gore arrives in town to investigate some rather cold clues. And she isn’t exactly welcomed there when she arrives.

Max Andrews had been saving up money for years to hire a detective to search for his missing sister. His father isn’t home often, he has become a long haul trucker and he would not approve anyway, his psychic wounds remain raw. After his daughter was abducted his wife was so upset about it she took her own life.

After all this time passed with no sign of the two missing girls it is presumed they are probably dead. Annie Gore gathers information on the events that took place and the people who might have witnessed what occurred. She starts asking questions. This community is not being very cooperative.

The sheriff hasn’t been too friendly either. Fortunately he has a deputy who is a bit more helpful.

There are some links between the missing girls: all three had connections with the local Baptist church. Creepy folk art dolls with heads made out of dried apples were left behind in the places where each one was abducted. Even the Baptist preacher and his wife could be potential suspects. Or perhaps it was that plumber who arrived as that piano teacher was leaving?

Annie Gore stirs up one righteous nest of hornets at Quartz Creek. Soon after she arrives and begins digging for clues there is a murder. Then somebody tries to kill her. Halloween is coming up - this story has supernatural overtones. There’s an old woman that some people consider to be a witch. Then there are the crows who caw at pivotal moments. This is an auspicious debut for this series.