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A review by manwithanagenda
Lie In Wait by Eric Rickstad
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
In 'Lie in Wait' a teenage girl is murdered while babysitting for a lawyer who's taken on a high-profile, highly controversial case. Set in a fictionalized version of the small town of Canaan in the far Northeastern corner of the Vermont, this is a thriller that makes great use of its setting and recent history.
In 2000 Vermont legalized civil unions for same-sex couples and there was a backlash across the state from many Vermonters who felt that their state was being "taken over" by liberal flatlanders who were moving to the state in large numbers and therefore their own concerns were being ignored. Signs were put up everywhere encouraging voters to "Take Back Vermont" and roll back the civil union legislation and many other progressive policies. The bigots did not win that time, but its hard for me to forget how many of those signs there were, and how slowly they came down.
Rickstad sets his novel in 2010 against the backdrop of gay marriage instead of civil unions. This brings the action more towards the present for the reader and perhaps ties the Take Back Vermont movement in with other, more recent, knee-jerk political movements. The truth is, in my part of the state, there wasn't nearly as much animosity or division about the same-sex marriage bill as there was about same-sex civil unions, but animosity and division make for a better novel.
The sleepy town of Canaan is rocked by the murder of a bright young girl in the home of a prominent man. Was her death a tragic quarrel with a boyfriend, a message from those opposed to the gay marriage case, or something else? Detective Sonja Test wants to make the most out of this case, there are few opportunities to investigate this level of crime, but the case belongs to the State Police and Detective North, so she has to work within his investigation. Sonja's struggles are compounded by sexism and Rickstad deftly handles that. Women have fair play here, which isn't always the case in genre novels.
I have some issues with the ending, but it was still satisfying.
My real disappointment is an editorial one. I read the paperback first edition and it is riddled with errors - character descriptions contradicting each other, sometimes on the same page; the time of day in one pivotal scene of confrontation is referred to as both the morning and the afternoon; and some small typos. I hope these have been fixed for future editions.
Canaan Crime
Next: 'The Silent Girls'
In 2000 Vermont legalized civil unions for same-sex couples and there was a backlash across the state from many Vermonters who felt that their state was being "taken over" by liberal flatlanders who were moving to the state in large numbers and therefore their own concerns were being ignored. Signs were put up everywhere encouraging voters to "Take Back Vermont" and roll back the civil union legislation and many other progressive policies. The bigots did not win that time, but its hard for me to forget how many of those signs there were, and how slowly they came down.
Rickstad sets his novel in 2010 against the backdrop of gay marriage instead of civil unions. This brings the action more towards the present for the reader and perhaps ties the Take Back Vermont movement in with other, more recent, knee-jerk political movements. The truth is, in my part of the state, there wasn't nearly as much animosity or division about the same-sex marriage bill as there was about same-sex civil unions, but animosity and division make for a better novel.
The sleepy town of Canaan is rocked by the murder of a bright young girl in the home of a prominent man. Was her death a tragic quarrel with a boyfriend, a message from those opposed to the gay marriage case, or something else? Detective Sonja Test wants to make the most out of this case, there are few opportunities to investigate this level of crime, but the case belongs to the State Police and Detective North, so she has to work within his investigation. Sonja's struggles are compounded by sexism and Rickstad deftly handles that. Women have fair play here, which isn't always the case in genre novels.
I have some issues with the ending, but it was still satisfying.
My real disappointment is an editorial one. I read the paperback first edition and it is riddled with errors - character descriptions contradicting each other, sometimes on the same page; the time of day in one pivotal scene of confrontation is referred to as both the morning and the afternoon; and some small typos. I hope these have been fixed for future editions.
Canaan Crime
Next: 'The Silent Girls'