Long Bright River
Liz Moore
Penguin Random House Australia
Hutchinson London
ISBN:9781786331632
Description:
KENSINGTON AVE, PHILADELPHIA:
THE FIRST PLACE YOU GO FOR DRUGS OR SEX.
THE LAST PLACE YOU WANT TO LOOK FOR YOUR SISTER.
Mickey Fitzpatrick has been patrolling the 24th District for years. She knows most of the working women by name. She knows what desperation looks like and what people will do when they need a fix. She’s become used to finding overdose victims: their numbers are growing every year. But every time she sees someone sprawled out, slumped over, cold to the touch, she has to pray it’s not her sister, Kacey.
When the bodies of murdered sex workers start turning up on the Ave, the Chief of Police is keen to bury the news. They’re not the kind of victims that generate a whole lot of press anyway. But Mickey is obsessed, dangerously so, with finding the perpetrator – before Kacey becomes the next victim.
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‘A remarkable, profoundly moving novel about the ties that bind and the irrevocable wounds of childhood. It’s also a riveting mystery, perfectly paced. I loved every page of it.’ DENNIS LEHANE
My View:
I predict awards, awards, awards for this book! This is an amazing read, this is what you discover when literary fiction collides with crime fiction – a full on, unstoppable narrative that is poignant, simultaneously heartbreaking yet uplifting, engaging; writing that is brilliantly constructed, complex not complicated, AND then there is the slow building tension of the unsolved crimes that escalates into a teeth clenching, heart racing conclusion. What a read!
I have been reviewing books/blogging my reviews since 2013 and I cannot think of any other read that comes close to this. This book is already in my “best of 2020 reads”, possibly my BEST read, ever.
I think you should read this book.
Reading, Writing and Riesling 
You had me at the Kensington setting, Carol! I know the place – not from living in it, but when we lived in Philadelphia, we all knew about Kensington… It’s a great setting for a novel like this. And the story itself sounds suspenseful and well-crafted, too. Onto the wish list it goes – now. And I don’t usually act that reflexively about books.
Margot – this book is one you must read – I am sure you will love and appreciate it as much as I have done.
I thought this was excellent as well Carol 🙂
I am ready to call this one if the best reads of the year ( I know it’s still early in the year but I recognise quality here)
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