Title: Long Bright River by Liz Moore
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Literary Fiction
Length: 492 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss
Summary:
Two sisters travel the same streets, though their lives couldn’t be more different. Then one of them goes missing.
In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don’t speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling.
Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey’s district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit–and her sister–before it’s too late.
Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters’ childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.
Review:
Long Bright River by Liz Moore is a poignant mystery with a topical storyline.
Police Officer Mickey Fitzpatrick is a single mom to four year old son Thomas. She and her drug addicted sister Kacey were raised by their neglectful grandmother Gee after their mother died of a drug overdose and their father disappeared. Mickey is estranged from Kacey but she does her best to look out for her as she patrols the Kensington community. Following a series of murders of women in the neighborhood, Mickey is growing increasingly worried about Kasey, who has inexplicably dropped out of sight. With her partner of ten years Truman Dawes out on medical leave, Mickey becomes increasingly desperate to find Kasey. Making impulsive choices that jeopardize her career, will Mickey find her sister before it is too late?
Mickey has always been rather socially awkward and that has not changed over the course of her career as a police officer. After moving out from Gee’s home years earlier, she keeps her distance from her grandmother and the rest of her extended family. Mickey is devoted to Thomas but their recent move has upended their formerly comfortable life. When no one can give her any information about Kacey’s whereabouts, Mickey takes matters into her own hands and she begins making one disastrous choice after another. With the police no closer to finding the killer who is preying on vulnerable women, Mickey ignores her boss’s warnings to stay out the case.
With chapters weaving back and forth between the past and present, Long Bright River is a heartbreaking mystery that explores family bonds and opioid addiction. Mickey is an extremely guarded and emotionally wounded woman who is willing to make tough choices in order to protect her loved ones. Kacey’s struggles with addiction are heartrending and her numerous attempts to get clean are realistically portrayed. Liz Moore deftly written novel is a sensitive and timely novel that shines a much needed light on the opioid epidemic and the long-term emotional damage on family and friends. A layered and multi-faceted mystery that will linger in readers’ minds long after the last page is turned. Highly recommend.
