Isabella Moon: A Novel

Any of you city slickers who imagine small-town life is dull ought to read Laura Benedict's suspenseful, sexy, and haunting debut novel, Isabella Moon, as this book set in Carystown, Kentucky, proves otherwise. It's a page turner that is just as much about character as it is about plot. In fact, the characters are richly, artfully drawn with Benedict's deft hand. And just who is Isabella Moon? Well, she's the missing girl who comes back to haunt the novel's protagonist, Kate, and reveal her secret. But like pulling a thread--one secret revealed leads to another, until all of the town's ugly skeletons are revealed and we learn once and for all that secrets are dangerous and that buried secrets don't stay that way for long. I was drawn to this book when I saw the spooky book trailer last year and I have to say it did not disappoint and many a night after I'd put the book down and shut out the light, I kept the covers pulled up tight under my chin. If you like books that keep you guessing, that keep you on the edge of your seat, and that present you with believable, sympathetic characters, then this book is for you. Read it.

Having just finished Isabella Moon, I can see why other readers had complaints. This is absolutely not a thriller where everything is wrapped up in the end with a tidy little bow. But I thought this was a wonderful novel, populated by fully fleshed-out characters whose personal weaknesses frequently lead to tragedy. The writing was lovely and poetic, with extraordinarily vivid imagery. The portrait of a idyllic, sleepy Southern town jarred by unexpected violence was very well done. This book stuck with me after I finished it, which is rare for a thriller. Highly recommended.

ISABELLA MOON by Laura Benedict is a hearty character driven plot, filled with surprises. The reader is drawn into the fishbowl lives of the townspeople of Carystown, Kentucky--a community embroiled in secrets, unexpected sexual liaisons, and deep betrayal. But the biggest secret of all is the disappearance of 9-year old Isabella Moon two years prior. Like a domino about to be tipped, finding the missing girl jumpstarts this compelling plot. And the author wields an intriguing voice that beckons with the subtlety of a whispered secret, yet she holds the reader with unexpected plot twists and images that linger long after the last page is turned. Benedict paints an atmospheric and supernatural world with a noir feel to the crime fiction elements of this story. A wonderful read that I recommend highly.

It has been two years since nine years old Isabella Moon disappeared and the failure to resolve the case eats at Sheriff Bill Delaney. Rationalizing that these things do not happen in quaint Carystown, Kentucky fails to lift the despondent law enforcement official. No one is more surprised than newcomer Kate Russell when she sees the ghost of Isabella; she follows the spirit to the spot where the little girl was buried. It takes tremendous will power for Kate to inform Bill what she saw as she has dark secrets that could lead to her arrest. Initially Bill assumes Kate is a flake, but he cannot get her statement out of his mind; so reluctantly he digs at the spot she mentioned and uncovers the corpse. Clues lead to Paxton Birkenshow, a blue blood with plenty of money. He is seeing Kate's best friend Francie, a black woman who does not want their relationship made public as her mother believes he is weak. Paxton and Kate mutually despise each other, but she has other woes besides being a suspect in the Isabella murder; her dangerous secret has come to town to reclaim her. These secrets keep Bill busy while changing his life forever. This is a refreshing original mystery that occurs in a twenty-first century Peyton Place like town. There are many key interesting characters with some providing a third person point of view that moves the exciting story line forward with a reasonable degree of believability and understanding. ISABELLA MOON is a multifaceted police procedural intertwined with subplots that come together to forge a well written recommended whodunit. Harriet Klausner

Isabella Moon In a remarkably rich first novel, short story author Laura Benedict puts a complex spin on the secrets of a small Kentucky town still spooked by the unsolved disappearance of a child two years earlier. When the ghost of nine-year-old Isabella Moon leads newcomer Kate Russell to her hidden grave, instead of bringing closure to the town, the discovery unleashes suspicion on Kate, who has secrets of her own and attracts danger to those who befriend her. This supernatural thriller, written with a literary flair, feels like a lesson in real life because justice does not always reign. The guilty are not always punished. The innocent are not always saved. Readers hankering for happy endings are better off sticking to fairy tales because this dark debut will haunt your mind each time you turn down a lonely country road.