This mystery follows Abby, a manager of The Passage Inn located in Cutter's Pass, North Carolina. The town is close to the Appalachian Trail and is a destination for hiking and other outdoor activities. Abby has lived in this small town for the past 10 years and has integrated herself into the town especially after the latest disappearance. Cutter's Pass has a handful of unsolved disappearances that has made the town notorious for more than just the gorgeous waterfall. The latest was journalist Landon who was researching the previous disappearances. When Landon's brother Trey shows up at the Inn looking for clues or answers about what happened to his brother, Abby starts to notice the cracks in the facade of this idyllic mountain town. And when the life-long townsfolk start to close rank and see Abby as an outsider, she has no choice but to push on and find the truth.
I loved the premise for this story and the way the different disappearances were integrated into the current plot line. This story is separated into parts with the focus of each part being a specific one of the disappearances. This way, we get the details of each case spaced out nicely throughout the story. Of course, we get some details early on so we can understand the town and the set-up for the plot, but the details aren't all info-dumped onto the reader at the beginning. There also isn't much downtime at the beginning of the story for the reader to slowly be introduced to the town or the people here - we get Trey showing up very early on and that starts the rumors/memories/investigation to start early on as well. I do think that, initially, there isn't much of a mystery vibe because it does feel more like Trey is just grieving and trying to connect with his missing brother in some way. However, once the plot points start developing and certain information is unearthed, the mystery investigation starts in earnest.
The setting of this small mountain town was absolutely perfect. I really enjoyed the line in the sand between the tourists and the people who live there all year. I also enjoyed the different members of the town reacted to these disappearances in their own way - some folks don't want to talk about it at all and others are integrating them into their businesses. I also thought the choice to have these be disappearances and not other crimes was really interesting because it allowed multiple characters to sort of shrug off the implications or heavy reality by reminding other characters (and the reader) that these people might have continued hiking on the trail and gotten hurt elsewhere or maybe they wanted to start a new life and they're completely fine. The disappearing gave just enough wiggleroom that these sorts of theories couldn't be 100% discounted. I was expecting the town setting to become a bit more sinister as the book went along and it did get a bit darker but far from what I was expecting. I was hoping for a Hot Fuzz type twist in this small town setting but it didn't hit that level of twist in my opinion.
The characters in this story were interesting and I liked how Miranda played with the idea of how much we actually know the people around us. There's a great mix of people in this town who have grown up together as well as a mix of new people coming in. The new folks are also a mix of seasonal workers and people who end up staying for a long time (like Abby, our main character). It is mentioned multiple times that between the Trail and the town, there are many people who find something their looking for in their lives here and then decide to stay for a bit. However, many people are very private about their pasts or their personal history so the other characters (and the reader) don't know much about their pasts. The main example of this is Abby's co-worker. Miranda does a fantastic job of giving the reader just enough character details that the people in this town feel real but also holds back enough details to really deepen that sense of mystery. This is highlighted even more as the investigation picks up toward the end where Abby starts to question these people around her that she's known for 10 years because that might not actually be enough time to know someone (and they start to push her out using the same logic).
I enjoyed the mystery aspect and thought it was well plotted but it ended up falling a little flat for me. There were numerous times where the mystery plot would come to a sort of fork in the road where it could go one way and get darker and more sinister or it could go the other way and sort of stay the same. I felt like every time there was one of these turning points, Miranda took the safer option. Which, of course, is her right as the author. However, I was expecting a story about a string of missing hikers and a town closing ranks on outsiders to be more sinister than what we end up getting. I was fine with what the mystery solution ended up being, but I wanted the tone and path getting there to be much darker. I also think having the lead up to the ending reveals be darker would then make the ending a bit more impactful. As it stands, there's a little bit of a disconnect for me because the investigation ramps up super quickly and the pieces fall together pretty much all at once and a bunch of town secrets get revealed at the same time. It was just a lot all squeezed in at the end and I wish those points were spaced out a bit more and also having the build up to the reveal be darker in tone.
Overall, this was an entertaining read with a solid mystery. I do wish the town was darker, but that is a personal preference that I know not everyone shares. I loved the setting and premise of the book and thought Miranda was able to balance characterization and the plot implications of those characters really well.
Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC. Publication date was July 26, 2022
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