a contemporary southern gothic mystery/thriller with historical elements
The Kingdoms of Savannah is a contemporary southern gothic mystery/thriller with historical elements by George Dawes Green. The ebook version is 272 pages. We follow multiple characters with third-person points-of-view.
Morgana Musgrove is one of Savannah, Georgia's most prosperous and respected society mavens. Since she inherited a detective agency from her late husband, she is hired by a slimy real estate developer to find a missing woman while exonerating him of a murder of which he is being charged. To get to the bottom of the case, Morgana needs to call upon her four grown children to help her with the investigation.
I initially picked up this book because Neil Gaiman blurbed it and called it "the apotheosis of Southern Gothic Noir."
This book stretches from the bottom of the barrel to the top of society in Savannah, including homeless encampments that circle the city, a maze of tunnels beneath the streets, and the mansions of the city's elite. The author does a great job giving us spooky vibes throughout, using a ton of historical information to weave his tale. There are also certain famous locations in the city--including the stone stairs of death--that feature heavily in some character backstories.
Morgana has such a good mind for mysteries, and I wish we spent more time in her point-of-view. There are so many different point-of-view characters in this book! There are also only five chapters plus an epilogue in this book. I get that the separations are done on purpose, exploring different areas, but each chapter is VERY LONG.
Make sure you read the author's notes!
Tropes in this book include: corruption, family drama, dysfunctional families
CW: violence, guns, death, murder, drug use and abuse, animal endangerment, mentions of emotional/psychological abuse in the past
Special thanks to Celadon Books, Macmillan, and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
Morgana Musgrove is one of Savannah, Georgia's most prosperous and respected society mavens. Since she inherited a detective agency from her late husband, she is hired by a slimy real estate developer to find a missing woman while exonerating him of a murder of which he is being charged. To get to the bottom of the case, Morgana needs to call upon her four grown children to help her with the investigation.
I initially picked up this book because Neil Gaiman blurbed it and called it "the apotheosis of Southern Gothic Noir."
This book stretches from the bottom of the barrel to the top of society in Savannah, including homeless encampments that circle the city, a maze of tunnels beneath the streets, and the mansions of the city's elite. The author does a great job giving us spooky vibes throughout, using a ton of historical information to weave his tale. There are also certain famous locations in the city--including the stone stairs of death--that feature heavily in some character backstories.
Morgana has such a good mind for mysteries, and I wish we spent more time in her point-of-view. There are so many different point-of-view characters in this book! There are also only five chapters plus an epilogue in this book. I get that the separations are done on purpose, exploring different areas, but each chapter is VERY LONG.
Make sure you read the author's notes!
Tropes in this book include: corruption, family drama, dysfunctional families
CW: violence, guns, death, murder, drug use and abuse, animal endangerment, mentions of emotional/psychological abuse in the past
Special thanks to Celadon Books, Macmillan, and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.