Readcommendations

by Cyn Mackley 
Reviewed by SA

I’ve been excited to read this book for ages. I fell in love with the cover, and the idea of a good mystery in farmland with a goth protagonist was too sweet to just walk by. I have to say, I devoured this novel so quickly:it was everything I wanted to read. It was perfect!

Summary

When her grandfather dies mysteriously, New York City artist and goth chick Trinity Goode heads back to her small Ohio hometown to take over the farm and figure out what really happened to the man who always accepted her just as she was. Trinity’s ready to lace up her Doc Marten boots to be a church lady and bake pies for the county fair, but is her hometown ready to welcome her back?

With some help from her old friend Deputy Bobby Grace, she tries to solve the mystery of her Grandfather’s death and track down just who has been hell-bent on ruining her reputation. What she finds out could get her killed.

You can take the girl out of the country, put red streaks in her hair, and dress her all in black, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. Pitchfork in hand, this American Goth is ready to find a killer, save the farm, win a blue ribbon for jam, and just maybe snag herself a good ole country boy.

If I were to summarize this book in one word, it would be delightful. All that comes from Trin: Trinity is a remarkable woman and one I’m dying to know in person. She’s smart, she’s creative, and so wholly relatable that for a while I really thought she would walk off the page. And I really wished she would: I would die for some of her cookies.

Her character is just so complex. You can’t boil her down to just one personality point: yes, she’s a goth, but she’s also a good catholic girl, she loves her family, and she’s an artist with so many different mediums. It’s not every day your strong female character is a brilliant quilter too, now is it? Heck yes, we need more crafter protagonists.

I had assumed the mystery would take up more of the plot, but really the story revolved around the growing relationship between Trin and Bobby, the local deputy. Their chemistry is palpable, and their relationship is just so healthy I couldn’t be happier for them to have found each other. Watching them support each other, especially when some harsh secrets are revealed, reminds you that sometimes a good love story is about more than just the infatuation.  So if you’re a fan of romance, then you’re going to fall head over heels for this true love story.

The mystery itself is a slow cooker with a remarkably rich ending. I never saw it coming! A huge twist near the end totally changed my deductions before yet another twist changed them again. Serves me right for jumping to conclusions! The author peppered the story with enough clues that could lead you to finding the solution yourself, while still making the reveal shocking and incredibly exciting.

The ending was just perfect, and I absolutely need more. I loved this novel. Grab yourself a copy of American Goth, a hot mug of cocoa, and enjoy!

Fair warning: all the talk of baking seriously made me miss owning an oven. I can’t tell you how many store bought cookies I needed to get me through this book!  It had my stomach growling!