Middletide is Sarah Crouch‘s 288 page debut novel published by Atria books in 2024.
Genre: Literary Mystery
Opening Line:
Gray foam slapped the bow of the Crestliner as it zipped north across the still waters of Puget Sound.
Synopsis:
In this gripping and intensely atmospheric debut, disquiet descends on a small town after the suspicious death of a beautiful young doctor, with all clues pointing to the reclusive young man who abandoned the community in chase of big city dreams but returned for the first love he left behind. Perfect for fans of All Good People Here and Where the Crawdads Sing
One peaceful morning, in the small, Puget Sound town of Point Orchards, the lifeless body of Dr. Erin Landry is found hanging from a tree on the property of prodigal son and failed writer, Elijah Leith. Sheriff Jim Godbout’s initial investigation points to an obvious suicide, but upon closer inspection, there seem to be clues of foul play when he discovers that the circumstances of the beautiful doctor’s death were ripped straight from the pages of Elijah Leith’s own novel.
Out of money and motivation, thirty-three-year-old Elijah returns to his empty childhood home to lick the wounds of his futile writing career. Hungry for purpose, he throws himself into restoring the ramshackle cabin his father left behind and rekindling his relationship with Nakita, the extraordinary girl from the nearby reservation whom he betrayed but was never able to forget.
As the town of Point Orchards turns against him, Elijah must fight for his innocence against an unexpected foe who is close and cunning enough to flawlessly frame him for murder in this scintillating literary thriller that seeks to uncover a case of love, loss, and revenge.
My Thoughts:
Sarah Crouch’s debut novel Middletide is ostensibly a mystery, with a love story to boot. Chapters alternate timelines, from 1994 when the small Washington town’s doctor is found hanging in the forest, to a time period stretching from 1973 up until that event. (I honestly couldn’t say for sure why the author chose to set the main thrust of her story in 1994. Was it because long distance communication and the maintaining of relationships would have been more difficult? To highlight isolation and loneliness?) When Elijah left for San Francisco to try to make it as a novelist, he broke Nakita’s heart. Years later, after failing to realize his dream, Elijah makes his way back to Point Orchards and becomes a homesteader. Can he convince Nakita to give him a second chance? And what do these things have to do with the future hanging death of Erin Landry?
While the mystery was decent, the procedural aspects of it were very hard to swallow. Law enforcement and the court did things I found very hard to believe. I did like many of the characters in this story, and the romance overall was pretty okay, other than a few times when Elijah really had me cringing at his behavior (e.g. his condescending ultimatum to Nakita on New Year’s Eve). The writing on the sentence level was fine, if a bit simple.
What I thought this book did BEST was create a vivid sense of place (a small town and American Indian reservation in the Pacific Northwest), and portray the sense of pride and satisfaction one can take in supporting oneself off the land from the fruits of their labor.
So overall this was a decent read, although it was mostly the vibes I appreciated moreso than the details of the story.
As far as steamy, there is only kissing in this book; in regards to violence, there are just the details of the investigation into a death by hanging that happened off-page.
I have devised a rating system for sexual and violent content for when I review books. Here are the keys:
Jessica Crawford 