Publishers Weekly
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Mulhauser (Sweetgirl) combines atmosphere, suspense, and deep-seated empathy in this stellar family crime saga set in northern Michigan during the early 2000s. The Sawbrooks have owned hundreds of acres along the Crow River for nearly two centuries, but the expansion of a nearby resort has led to a spike in property taxes that’s put the family in financial straits. The stress comes at a difficult time for the clan: patriarch Edward is seriously ill, and his wife, Rhoda, is at odds with their addict son, Buckner, who’s been banned from their property, and their older daughter, Lucy, a park ranger who put her chunk of Sawbrook land into a conservation trust against her parents’ wishes. Meanwhile, the Sawbrooks’ other daughter, Jewell, has agreed, for $10,000, to torch a boat so its owner can collect on a lucrative insurance policy. Jewell carries out the arson, but unexpected complications ensue, threatening her family’s legacy. Mulhauser peppers the action with jaw-dropping twists, but his real strength is in constructing three-dimensional characters whose transgressions feel both plausible and shocking. Readers won’t be able to put this down. Agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Co. (Mar.)

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From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

When Jewell Sawbrook agrees to torch a wealthy summer resident's boat for insurance money, she has no idea the seemingly victimless crime will set off a chain of events that pulls in her entire family. The Sawbrooks may have a checkered history of smuggling goods across the Canadian border and are known for being some of northern Michigan's most stubborn residents, but they don't appreciate being suspects in a potential murder. Mulhauser (Sweetgirl, 2016) offers distinct voices for the rotating cast of Sawbrook family narrators, gradually revealing new motives, information, and opportunities for chaos. The Sawbrooks' complex dynamics take center stage as they navigate long-standing feuds and conflicting loyalties. The heart of Mulhauser's rich and compelling novel focuses on the lengths parents will go to to protect their children, the gift of new perspectives, and the price of holding onto the past. Fans of William Kent Krueger's This Tender Land (2019) and Andrew J. Graff's Raft of Stars (2021) will adore this darkly comic exploration of family loyalty, self-reliance, and desperate choices.