Bitterroot Lake by Alicia Beckman, is a highly suspenseful contemporary novel with a strong sense of place.
Sarah McCaskill, newly widowed, hopes to find healing at her extended family’s historic Whitetail Lodge along the shore of Montana’s Bitterroot Lake. Upon arriving, she’s surprised to find an old friend, Janine, occupying one of the lodge’s cabins. There’s been a murder in town—Lucas Erickson, a lawyer who, twenty-five years before, attempted to rape Janine. Janine is afraid that she will be accused of the murder, that she sought revenge for that long-ago attack.
Two more friends join Sarah and Janine, and together they try to solve the mystery of the real killer. While staying in the lodge, property that has belonged to the McCaskills since 1922, the women recall their shared tragedy, a fatal automobile accident that happened at the time and was connected to Janine’s near rape.
While attempting to solve the murder mystery, the women discover a legacy of incidents that occurred in the lodge’s early years. Truths surface that link present-day occurrences to the past.
I enjoyed Bitterroot Lake and became immersed in the mystery that brought these women together. I especially enjoyed the author’s descriptions of the Montana landscape, particularly around Bitterroot Lake, and also the depiction and flavor Beckman creates of a closely knit small town.
This sounds like a great mystery, Mary. One I’ll have to put on my TBR list.
It is a good mystery, Alice. Plus, a wonderful description of that area in Montana.