Murder Mystery in the Bayou

In Delia Owens's Where the Crawdads Sing, we follow the life of an abandoned child, known to the town as "The Marsh Girl", during the 1950's in the outer banks of North Carolina. Kya has learned to survive on her own but still finds herself yearning for human connection. When one of the most popular men in the town is found dead, the Marsh Girl is considered a suspect, throwing the reader into a Southern whodunit.

Once I got used to the dialogue written in Southern drawl, I devoured this novel. Owens seamlessly weaves Kya's isolated childhood into the timeline of the murder investigation. Her descriptions of the North Carolina marsh shine so beautifully, while touching upon the very raw, basic human emotions, poignantly showing what happens when you must learn to depend on only yourself when cast out of society.

Opening the pages to Where the Crawdads Sing is like stepping into a forgotten time. Kya's tale will have your heart pounding and leave you breathless.