The Last of the Moon Girls

The not-so-subtle name of Salem Creek is where Moon Girl Farm is located. They don\’t torture witches to death there as was done in the town of Salem in Colonial times, but they do torture them with gossip, innuendo, and shunning Lizzy left Moon Girl Farm nearly a decade ago to create a normal life in New York City, but upon learning of her grandmother\’s death, begins to consider that she may have only succeeded in losing herself in her efforts. Still, she determines to sell the farm and put it all behind her once and for all. But it needs a lot of work, and she doesn\’t have the money to hire professional help. After reading her grandmother\’s journal, she decides to investigate the mystery of the girls who died for herself. But there\’s a good possibility that the real murderer is going to want to prevent her from finding the truth and clearing her grandmother\’s name. At least her childhood friend and neighbor Andrew is still there and willing to help her out. The story has a moody, modern gothic atmosphere that\’s loaded with suspense, intrigue, excitement & romance. The earth magic angle is interesting, but it felt a little overly preachy at times, & in a way that wasn\’t always consistent. The characters are somewhat stereotyped but sympathetic. It succeeded in keeping me immersed, for the most part, thru a prosaic resolution to a satisfying conclusion, however, so I still enjoyed it. *Clean romance level: passionate kisses, the main characters have sex, with some discreet description but there\’s no graphic detail *Language: about a dozen uses each of d-mn & h-ll *Religion: \”white\” witchcraft; about a dozen uses of God\’s Name in vain, sadly and unnecessarily, including twice as curses

\”Each of us comes in to the world with a story to tell.\” For Lizzy Moon, she thought she knew what her story would be. She\’d left her childhood home with all of its memories and heartaches, and had built a new, successful life for herself. When she returns to Moon Girl Farm following the death of her grandmother, old wounds are reopened, but so are the possibilities of a life she never dreamed she could have. This hauntingly beautiful novel transcends genre–it is a mystery, it is magical, it is a story of legacy and reconciliation and home. I was so drawn to Lizzy, enthralled by her story, her doubts, her fears, her dreams; I felt every step of her journey to find herself, to reconcile her past, to follow her heart, and to write her own story, to find her magick. My heart was completely engaged while reading this book, as I went though a myriad of emotions; there were times my heart nearly stopped, times my heart was broken, times my heart was hopeful, times my heart was overflowing with love. I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

It started out slow for me, I\’m afraid. Then I wrestled with not really liking the main character. At that point, I figured this was going to be another one of those \’OK, nothing to rave about\’, 3-Star type books. However, later, the book did engage me. It had family drama and wisdom. It had what turned out to be a decent cold case murder mystery. At around the 80% mark it even had a little romance. And best of all–it was a complete story with a HEA ending. And by then I even liked the Heroine a little bit more. Nothing really exceptional–but it did come together and ended up to be a decent read for me.

What a delightful read this book was! I loved the author\’s evocative imagery and beautifully crafted characters. She even managed to create believable characters who are dead! The prologue pulled me right in and made me curious about both Althea and the mystery that bothered her even after her death. This book touches on so many themes that can tug at the heart: loss, longing, generational family dynamics, legacies, special gifts, seeking justice, and more. Just because these heavier issues are addressed, don\’t assume that this is a dry and boring read, as it is very far from that. In fact, I found the author to have an inviting, smooth, and easy-to-read style that made it easy to keep the pages turning so I could find out more about Lizzy (our heroine) and the other “Moon girls.” Lizzy is not comfortable with her family\’s legacy or her particular gift. As such, she is unsure what to do now that she is the guardian of the family knowledge, including the amazing books of remembrance written by her ancestors. The author seems to have done a lot of research about this type of wise women healer. If you like well-written books that combine magical realism with a murder mystery, you may very well enjoy this book as much as I did.

As I sit here in the aftermath of reading this newest book by Davis I find myself surprised. Surprised that what seemed in the first 1/3 of the tale to be a gentle read became anything but. Surprised because while the urgency in me grew to finish the story I still felt as if we were gently rolling along are slow and steady pace when in fact, I was tumbling headlong into it. This was truly a good book. That word may seem weak for our current culture but I assure you, I mean it in it`s purest essence. Read it somewhere quiet without interruptions and watch it sneak up on you.

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