"Long Bright River," by Liz Moore

Some months ago, I tried to read Liz Moore's bestselling mystery novel, "The God of the Woods" (2024). From the descriptions and reviews, I thought I would like it, but I didn't get very far into it before realizing I did not, and I stopped reading it. So when a colleague, CP, who teaches in Michigan, wrote on Facebook about how much she liked one of Moore's earlier mystery novels, "Long Bright River" (Riverhead, 2020), I thought I would check it out, especially since I was starting to read a few mysteries again. (Regular readers of this blog may remember that I have dipped into and out of mysteries over the years: I am not sure what brings on each phase -- which may last months or years -- or what ends it, but it happens over and over again.) I found that "Long Bright River" was a good balance of the mystery aspect and the context of the mystery: the setting, the characters, the relationships, and other literary matters. To me, a good mystery must have this balance; reading just to find out "whodunit" is not very satisfying, if that is basically all there is. In this novel, the main draw for me was the characters, especially the main character, Mickey, a police officer who is very concerned about her sister Kacey. The sisters grew up together in a less than ideal situation, and were very close. But since early adolescence, Kacey has gotten into various types of trouble, and Mickey wants to find and help her. Meanwhile, Mickey herself, a complex and mostly admirable character, is dealing with her fellow police officers, for better or for worse, and is also raising her young son as a single mom. For most of the novel, she is focusing on solving the murders of young women who are on the streets and doing drugs, and is fearful for her own sister. Themes of family, sisterhood, relationships, exploitation, drugs -- and yes, love -- run through the book.