The Sisters of Blue Mountain

Title: The Sisters of Blue Mountain
Author: Karen Katchur
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Release Date: April 4, 2017
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Source: Publisher

For Linnet, owner of a Bed and Breakfast in Mountain Springs, Pennsylvania, life has been a bit complicated lately. Hundreds of snow geese have died overnight in the dam near the B&B, sparking a media frenzy, threatening the tourist season, and bringing her estranged sister, Myna, to town. If that isn't enough, the women's father has been charged with investigating the incident. But when a younger expert is brought in to replace him on the case and then turns up dead on Linnet's B&B’s property, their father becomes the primary suspect. As the investigation unfolds, the sisters will have to confront each other, their hidden past, and a side of Mountain Springs not seen before. Karen Katchur has written a thrilling novel of sisters and the secrets that bind them that is sure to appeal to readers of her acclaimed first novel, The Secrets of Lake Road.

My review:

When I was sent this book for review, I wasn't sure about it. I get tired of the "sisters who are feuding, but then get back together" type books (you know the ones). I decided to start reading the first few pages to confirm my suspicion, and fifty pages later, I was still glued to my seat. There is still that element in the book, which frankly I could have done without, but the mystery surrounding what happened to the snow geese propelled me to gobble this up in two days. The scientific theories, the setting, the father in the mid stages of Alzeimers, and the mystery surrounding the reporter, all had me hooked. I'm not going to say that there was any real depth to the writing or the characters, but there was just something about the plot that sucked me in until the very last page. There are several stories going on within this one that keep the book moving along at a good pace, and I never got bogged down with a boring section. This book made me want to go visit this area in real life to watch the migration of the geese. I bet it's breathtaking, just as the book describes.

While I could have lived without the estranged sister part, this was a surprisingly engaging book with some intertwined mysterious goings on. A quick and satisfying read.