Bitterroot Lake

If you want to get lost in a story, I highly recommend Bitterroot Lake by Alicia Beckman, particularly on Audible. With the help of narrator Linda Jones, I was transported to Montana, when, in fact, I was driving through New Mexico. Sarah McCaskill Carter has gone home to the lodge on the lake to grieve the loss of her husband. There, she’s reunited with a high school friend with issues of her own–a man who attacked her twenty-five years earlier, has been murdered, and Janine, Lucas’s past victim, is allegedly the last person to see him alive. As four friends are reunited, each with her own vulnerabilities, issues, and grudges, Sarah, age 47, too young to be widowed and counting the days that Jeremy has been gone, is clearly the protagonist of this tale. As friendships are tried and tested, the four women tied to a tragedy, will piece together events that happened 25 years earlier, as well as making profound discoveries from nearly 100-year-old letters found in the lodge. Adored learning who Sarah and Connor were named for. Laughed out loud when her sister discovered she was named for the housekeeper–but oh, what an important tie in to the entire tale. Beckman’s knowledge of interior design made me see this old lodge falling down around her ears; the author’s insertion of legal knowledge through Nic, one of the four women, added a richness and education few authors can provide. Beckman creates strong male characters and secondary characters as well. Finally, Narrator Linda Jones’s depth and breadth of changing her voice and personality to fit each character was truly astounding. I hope she enjoys great success from her fine acting and narration.

Heading is short but this is a rich story of strong women in Montana over 100 years. The author has created a vivid, fictional town in Montana with a dark past. Slow-paced as layers are peeled away and secrets revealed. Loved it!

Know in advance that there’s a paranormal thing going on here but know as well that it never gets too woo woo or overtakes the basic story of a woman confronting her past. Sarah’s mother thought toting through the stuff at their family vacation home- long unused- would be a good for Sarah, who is mouing the death of her husband. Maybe not, except that it does mean that Sarah will finally resolve something that’s lingered for years. Lucas, who was a creep 25 years ago and who has continued to be a slug, is found murdered in his office. Her friend Janine, who she hasn’t seen for 25 years, is concerned she’ll be arrested but luckily, their friend Nic and Sarah’s sister Holly also turn up to help solve the murder. Sarah’s dreams are important clues to what happened and will happen. She’s interesting, the others less so (they’re less well rounded) and the story moves briskly. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Bitterroot Lake is a new release by an author I’ve previously read under a different pseudonym. I’ve enjoyed her lighter, amateur sleuth mystery series, which made it an easy decision to read this evolution into a darker, more suspenseful novel. To begin with, the cover is enchanting and inviting. Had I not known the author’s identity, I still would’ve picked it up. Given the title, you know it has some lengthy history to cover, and there will be tons of hidden and not-so-hidden metaphors about character personalities and troubled pasts, right? Sarah has tried to forget some of her past. As a teenager, one friend was attacked, another killed in a strange car accident. Of the two surviving victims, one became her husband… the other a much-disliked lawyer. When the lawyer turns up dead, and notes about the so-called accident come flooding back the week after Sarah’s husband dies of cancer, nothing adds up. She’s a widow in her 40s; her mother also lost her husband a few years ago, and now she wants to sell the family’s childhood home, a large lakeside estate that could become a B&B. The book has all the elements of a dark and complicated mystery. Multiple streams and stories run through the pages, connecting the past and the future. Sarah’s 3 girlfriends reappear with letters stating that someone knows what happened years ago. What could it be? Unlike the author’s other work, there isn’t an amateur sleuth. Sarah is simply trying to grieve and process her husband’s death while figuring out what happened to her life and friendships. Who is following her? Why the sudden urge to sell the home? And who is the woman appearing in a vision that has a connection to her grandparents and great-grandparents who originally built / enlarged the structure? I appreciated the characterizations and settings in this book. It draws you in, painting a beautiful picture of an idyllic scene that has been tarnished by anger, revenge, and secrets. Sarah is well developed, but she’s also ordinary… meaning relatable. Although she has a bit of money, she’s first a mother and a widow… it’s about overcoming pain and learning you might’ve been blind to the truth in the past. It’s not a fast-paced suspense novel where you turn the pages to guess who killed the lawyer. I almost didn’t care who killed him; I wanted to know about the ghost and how what seemed like a regular car accident could really be more. The writing quality is strong. Some areas were a bit more descriptive than necessary, and it would’ve been elevated higher had the various stories / plots intersected a bit more. In some cases, I felt like there were details left out that might enhance the intrigue or suspense. Minor stuff. It shows the author can move into other genres and has a lot of promise to come for future books beyond her current series. I liked visiting Montana, which was new to me. It sounds like a stunning place. Thanks for a good read.

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