A review by finedanddandy
Middletide by Sarah Crouch

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I was so excited to receive an arc of this book based on the synopsis and gorgeous cover.  Middletide is pitched as a small town mystery revolving around the death of a beloved young doctor.  While the atmosphere was insular and claustrophobic (in the way I love in a mystery) and the nature descriptions beautiful, unfortunately the rest of this novel really fell flat for me. 

Every single character was one dimensional and made stupid decision after stupid decision.  None of these characters, including the doctor, had apparently ever heard of therapy or having a discussion like every other adult living in the real world.  All characters were absolutely insufferable and horribly self centered, making the story borderline unreadable.

The writing style overall was mostly fine, though at times it was fairly clinical and boring, which was an unwelcome contrast from the previous ethereal nature writing and made the slow burn mystery drag far more than it should have.

The plot was…unfortunate. The reasoning behind the suspected murder, later confirmed to be suicide was honestly far fetched and absolutely ridiculous.  Erin blaming someone for her daughter’s death instead of going to therapy or blaming herself for her poor vehicle maintenance was absurd. Additionally, while shoddy police work can definitely be prevalent in small towns, the LE/court portions of the book were poorly researched and laughably bad.  The process through which Elijah obtained a lawyer was truly ridiculous and nearly made me DNF.  

Finally, I was baffled by the decision to create a fictional indigenous people instead of researching one that already exists in the area.  The name for the indigenous people was Squalomah, which seems suspiciously close to a slur commonly directed at indigenous peoples.  The fact that one of the members was a Christian pastor was a strange choice.  After that reveal, the whole book began to feel like a Christian pandering attempt, including the epilogue, in which Nakita renounces her cultural beliefs as a myth at her wedding during a bible reading.