This novel was a bit slower than expected, but in the best way. I took my time with it and thoroughly enjoyed the story. The discussion of genealogy was interesting, and I personally enjoy the forensics side of criminology quite a bit so this was very much up my alley. A sad story, but also hopeful in a way. Beautifully written, I would definitely recommend it. 

I found The Night Flowers boring, unfortunately. Switching perspectives between two women, Laura and Jean, the two eventually work together to try and solve a cold case. And, for some reason, Herchenroether decided to throw some supernatural moments that didn't quite work for me. It was distracting more than anything.

I felt as though Herchenroether was just constantly feeding me information, to the point where I wasn't sure what to do with all of it, other than hope that it all comes together at the end without it being too muddled. Laura and Jean read as characters with random traits and back stories slapped onto blank figures, crafted in a way that made them seem more complex than they actually were. I think what made their characterizations fail was that they felt disconnected from the plot and even their motives.

Herchenroether isn't a bad writer by any means, but I think there was a lot left to be desired in this novel with the way it was executed.