The Wicked Hour (Natalie Lockhart #2) by Alice Blanchard
Release: December 1st 2020
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Source: Netgalley
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The discovery of a body on the morning after Halloween in an isolated New England town propels this compelling, character-driven follow-up to award-winning Alice Blanchard’s Trace of Evil.
The day after Burning Lake’s notorious, debauched Halloween celebration. Detective Natalie Lockhart uncovers a heartbreaking scene—a young woman, dead and lying in a dumpster. There’s no clue to who she is, save for a mystifying tattoo on her arm, and a callus underneath her chin. She’s not from around here. No one knows who she is.
As Natalie retraces the young woman’s steps leading up to her death, she uncovers even more horror. A string of murders and disappearances, seemingly unconnected, that may have ties to each other—and explain the abrupt disappearance of her best friend years ago.
Hence, as Natalie digs deeper to find the killer, old hurts are renewed and dark secrets uncovered. But deep within the mind of the hunter is a darkness Natalie could never have imagined, and as she draws closer to the truth, the killer is weaving a trap for her that may prove inescapable.
About the Author
ALICE BLANCHARD is an award-winning author. She has received a PEN Award, a New Letters Literary Award, a Centrum Artists-in-Residence Fellowship, and a Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction. Her debut novel, Darkness Peering, was a New York Times‘ Notable Book and a Barnes & Noble Best Mystery book. Her work has been published in 17 countries.
The Wicked Hour Review:
Many thanks to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book! I was excited to read “The Wicked Hour” because I enjoyed reading the first book in the series “Trace of Evil“. The story turned out to be entertaining, but not as good as the first.
Similar to “Trace of Evil”, they author introduces many characters who interacted with Morgan (the victim), and considered suspects. Each chapter introduces Natalie to a new suspect or motive, making the story fast and gripping. I liked some of the twists and turns, where everyone has secrets, and nobody is how they appear to be. Moreover, I loved the underlying theme of how people succumb to pressure of over-achieving. I know people in real life who broke down from the stress, where they couldn’t live to their family expectations. It was refreshing to see that aspect included in the mystery. Also, Natalie is wonderful as the main character. I liked her even more in this book because of how she struggles to cope with her guilt and shock from whatever transpired.
However, while this was a very good read, but I felt it was not as compelling as book one. In the first book, even though there were multiple mystery plots, the author resolved them all in the end. But in this story, one sub-plot stays unresolved, which I didn’t expect. I expected all the story-lines to get closure in this story as well. Also, I missed the witch craft element that was hardly present in the story. While the first book had some spooky rituals taking place that made it atmospheric, this story felt more like a procedural.
Nevertheless, I still enjoyed this novel! I feel people reading this as a standalone would enjoy reading it even more.
