The Reckoning

It’s 1985, and Renata Drake is on the run. She’s wanted for questioning in the death of the person responsible for killing her sister. She hops a Greyhound bus and ends up in the small town of Garberville, California. Using the name Natalie (Nattie) Connors, she tells everyone she’s a law student from Chicago taking a year off to explore the country. Starting a job as a janitor for the local hospital, her curiosity gets the better of her when she learns that a young woman has been killed, and it appears the small town has a serial killer. Even though everyone in Garberville seems to have dark secrets, she finds herself quickly falling in love with the town. The arrival of the FBI to investigate a marijuana cartel keeps Renata’s head on a swivel as she tries to bring a serial killer to justice while staying under the radar of local law enforcement. With each daily newspaper threatening to expose the truth about her, will she find justice for the town’s victims at the cost of her freedom? Stanley does a fantastic job of immersing the reader in the world of 1985, and it’s refreshing to have a mystery that doesn’t rely on DNA tests or Googling an answer on a cell phone. She balances the intense suspense with insight into a young woman’s experience before the #MeToo movement, domestic abuse laws, and Obergefell. Fans of the Peacock series Poker Face should definitely give this a try.