This was a slow-moving literary mystery that just didn’t work for me. The prose was so beautiful and gorgeous but in service of such a lackluster story.

Some of my favorite mystery novels are slow-burns so I was not unprepared but Knife River really took it to the next level and unfortunately, I do not mean that in a good way. I honestly struggled to stay focused throughout the entire story because it felt like absolutely nothing was happening. I understand that probably was supposed to be the “point,” to show a “realistic” cold case investigation in a small town. But I felt totally unmotivated to continue reading after about the halfway mark when there had been absolutely 0 progress made in the central mystery.

I really loved the dynamic between the sisters and the close look at how their mother’s disappearance changed them in such different ways. I liked the depiction of their initial discomfort and even distrust of each other after being out of touch for so many years.

However, I really struggled with Liz and Jess’ insistence on a certain suspect being their mother’s killer. It made absolutely no sense but they were so dead-set and certain. I could understand Liz being fixated on this suspect but it did not make sense for Jess’ character and really took me out of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Dial Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.