I went into this thinking (and hoping!) I was going to love this book, and there were many parts of it I did love - the Louisiana plantation setting, the narrator's voice - "an outsider," the well-developed characters, and the mystery of it it all; but there were things missing that would have made it a better read for me. I ended up "liking" the book well enough, and I am pretty certain I'll pick up the next book to find out what happens next for Charlie. Thanks to the publisher and the author, I won a copy of this book, and this was my unsolited and honest review.