ISABELLA MOON
Laura Benedict
Ballantine Books
Thriller
ISBN-10: 0345497678
ISBN-13: 9780345497673

• Read an Excerpt

In Carystown, Kentucky, the only person more mysterious than the ghost of Isabella Moon is the woman she has been appearing to. Kate Russell arrived in Carystown just a few years ago and made a quiet life for herself in the quaint little town. But, after Isabella, who disappeared two years ago, leads Kate to the spot where her body was hastily buried, Kate risks telling Sheriff Delaney, knowing her own past is at risk of exposure. And Delaney is curious about the attractive and illusive Kate... Soon, though, he has his hands full with a murder of a town matriarch, the death of a high school student and the discovery of Isabella Moon's body. He wonders if these events are all connected and why Kate seems to be at the center of it all. Who is she, really, and what is happening in this small town?

Laura Benedict's debut novel, ISABELLA MOON, is part ghost story, part murder mystery and part examination of the dark side of small town America. While the plot is interesting and suspenseful, it is the characters who really make it compelling. Sheriff Delaney is the classic crotchety career cop, but he is also an outsider to Carystown. Despite having married a woman from one of the town's aristocratic families, he is not originally from Carystown and can see it and its inhabitants with an objective eye. Kate's friend, Francie, is a tough and independent woman, but she is carrying on a secret affair with the town's rich golden boy, Paxton. Paxton himself has a nasty drug habit and is still living at home with his ailing yet strong-willed mother.

When Francie's mother, the well-respected Lillian Cayley, is murdered right after Kate takes her searching for the body of Isabella Moon, Francie's relationships with both Kate and Paxton begin to deteriorate. As Sheriff Delaney tries to make sense of the chaos threatening his usually peaceful jurisdiction, he continues to wonder if it is all somehow tied to Kate.

By far the most engaging characters are Kate Russell and Isabella Moon herself. Isabella was just nine years old when she went missing after school one day. Her disappearance caused a media storm, but there were never any solid leads for the police to work with, and the frenzy died down. Her mother and the others who lived on the communal farm on the outskirts of town also went on with their lives. Two years later Isabella is back, appearing to her mother and, for some reason, to Kate as well. Perhaps it is because of Kate's own violent and frightening past that Isabella's ghost confides in her.

As Sheriff Delaney soon learns, Kate is not exactly who she says she is. Through the course of the novel, her past is revealed to readers: a life of abuse and humiliation at the hands of her husband Miles and a series of shocking acts that eventually lead her, shielded with a new identity, to Carystown. Kate learns, though, that the past is never really that far behind. Once Isabella shows up, Kate and others living lies in Carystown will have to face dangerous truths.

ISABELLA MOON is a sexy and violent thriller with a surprising conclusion. Benedict's style is straightforward, and while her pace is slow at times, the combination of traditional thriller and ghost story makes this book a unique read. Benedict throws many balls into the air and does a good job catching most of them. Future efforts surely will be more streamlined, making her a novelist worth watching.

    --- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

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