Review of “The Last of the Moon Girls” by Barbara A. Davis
Eight years ago, Elzibeth “Lizzy” Moon left her small
hometown of Salem Creek and moved to New York City. She works as a creative
director for a perfume company and when she gets news that her grandmother,
Althea Moon, has died, she makes the hard decision to go back and revisit her
past. The Moon women all possess unique magical abilities and while never said
in the book, people suspect them of witchcraft. Eight years before she left,
two teenage sisters were murdered and Althea was the prime suspect. The girls
were found dead in a pond on Moon Girl Farm, the land that Althea owned. When
Lizzy comes back to town, she is determined to clear her grandmother's name and
sell the farm.
Unfortunately the farm buildings need a lot of work, and her
childhood neighbor Andrew, who is an architect and contractor, has taken it
upon himself to fix it up. The two reconnect and Andrew confesses his feelings,
while Lizzy makes it clear she can't have a “normal” relationship because of
her family history. Althea’s friend Evvie currently lives at the farm, and then
Lizzy’s estranged mom shows up all the while Lizzy is stirring up old feelings
in the town about the murder of the Gillman girls. Not every one wants to know
the truth, and when Lizzy is threatened, she does not back down.
This was a book that I had seen scrolling through Kindle or
browsing at Barnes and Noble, but had no idea what it was about. I decided to
give it a read mostly because I love the title. The book starts off slow,
establishing Lizzy’s life in New York and her complicated relationship with her
boss. The story begins to take shape once Lizzy reaches the farm. Wanting to be
rid of her family’s past, she was in a hurry to get the farm ready to sell. Her
interactions with Evvie and the book that her grandmother wrote to her,
encouraged Lizzy to solve the mystery of the Gillman murders to clear her
family's name.
The narrative structure of the book is done well. Author
Barbara Davis uses excerpts from Althea’s book to push and motivate Lizzy’s
actions along the way. Bits and pieces of new information are slowly revealed
about the murder and the threat to Lizzy increases as the book progresses. Even
though the mystery is a bit predictable, and the truth was not as salacious as
I wanted, it was still well executed. I enjoyed Lizzy conducting her own
investigation and questioning people, with some help from an ex Salem Creek
police officer.
Even though I enjoyed the main character Lizzy Moon, her
character development was a bit underwhelming. The romance subplot was cliché
but also rushed. Numerous times Lizzy tells Andrew she can’t be with him but
she never admits that she has any romantic feelings for him. The better
relationship that has less time but better development is between Lizzy and her
mother.
Not knowing what to expect from this book, I was pleasantly
surprised. Once Lizzy gets to the farm and the murder investigation starts, I
was hooked. Even though we never actually meet Althea Moon, her presence and
wisdom loom over the whole book. It has a lot of cliché’s and as I mentioned
some the character developments were lacking. Despite its flaws, I loved this
book and want to read it again. It’s a young women’s journey into adulthood
with the stigma of her past and family ostracizing her from the community
wrapped up in a murder mystery.
Thanks you all for reading and please leave comment below about your thoughts on the book.
