Amy Engel follows the brilliant The Roanoke Girls with this superb gritty, tragic, character driven, emotionally nerve wracking, atmospheric mystery set in the Missouri Ozarks in the small town of Barren Springs, a place barren of hope and opportunities in a desperate poverty stricken community, plagued by the social ills of drink and drugs. Single mom, Eve Taggert, works in a diner, a product of a tough and hard upbringing with a volatile and cruel meth addicted mother, and an older brother, Cal, who is now a police officer. She has tried to do her best for her beloved 12 year old daughter, Junie, ensuring that she did not grow up in the same circumstances as she did. The novel opens with the harrowing brutal murder of Junie and her best friend, Izzy, their throats cut, at the run down playground.

Eve's world collapses, torn apart by a unimaginable grief, she is plunged into the darkest of nightmares. She doesn't trust the sherriff to get to the bottom of what happened to Junie and Izzy and hunt the killer in their community. In response to the horrors of her situation, she turns her energies, fuelled by a vengeful fury, to get to the truth of what happened to Junie. Nothing is going to stop her, not the obstacles strewn in her path, Eve sheds any veneer of civilisation, willing to step into the fires of hell for justice. She traverses the town's underbelly, where no-one can be trusted as we learn of the details of her family and her traumatic history.

Engel writes a powerful story of loss, grief, lies and secrets, violence, misogyny, survival, the strength of female relationships, what it is to be a mother, and community. This vibrant novel is beautifully written and crafted, claustrophobic, melancholic, but if you are looking for a crime driven mystery, then this is possibly not a read for you. The author is far more interested in the characters, the flawed humanity, the place and the community. A tense, disturbing and suspenseful read that I recommend highly. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.

I adored The Roanoke Girls and it still stays with me so was so keen to read this one. In a small Missouri town two 12 year olds are found with their throats cut.
Eve Taggart the mother of one of the girls wants to find out what happened.
This is equally powerful and heavy with emotion. I was drawn in and picked it up at every opportunity. The ending was so not expected I was shocked.
I loved it and would highly recommend.

Good grief this is as dark and as brutal a tale as you will ever read - no spoilers but I did not see it coming

Set in the backwaters where everyone knows everything about you it’s as claustrophobic and dangerous as the woods

Excellent depiction of heart visceral grief

A must read

Published by Hodder and Stoughton on 31st March 2020. I was given an early advanced reading copy of this book in return for an honest review.

In a small town beset on poverty in Missouri, two 12 year old girls are found murdered in the park with their throats cut.

Eve Taggarts daughter is one of them and desperate with grief she takes it upon herself to find out what happened to her little girl.

Eve is no stranger to the dark side of life having been raised by her hard edged mother who dragged them up showing coldness and abuse instead of love and protection. With her daughter Junie gone she has nothing to fear and nothing to lose and needs her mothers cruel brand of strength if she is to get to the truth surrounding her daughter’s death.

I read The Roanoke Girls last year, or rather I listened to it on Audible on my long commutes to work and loved every single word of it so it’s no surprise that i really enjoyed this book also.

This is a powerful and emotional read from start to finish with an ending I never imagined or seen coming at all. It’s very dark and paints a translucent picture of poverty and neglect in a small town where people dont think much of themselves or become much.

This is a highly addictive read with twist and turns and is horrific in parts that I felt so sorry for Eve, for the life she has lived and the loss she has suffered. It’s down to earth, real life grit that I didnt want to end. Amy has a real nack of drawing you in to the story she is telling. A definite must read. You can pre-order it at Amazon

Janine at Jewellbooks

Having read Engel's debut novel for adults, 'The Roanoake Girls', I was keen to see where the next one led. It's another dark, twisted tale full of secrets and people willing to take extreme measures to ensure they remain concealed.

The novel opens with the deaths of two twelve year old girls in a poor area of rural Missouri. The mother of one of the girls, Eve Taggert, decides to take investigations into her own hands when locals will not cooperate with the police. Battling her overwhelming grief, small-town tensions and the toxic presence of her own mother, Eve has to uncover the town's secrets in order to bring a killer to justice.

I'm in two minds about this book. On the one hand, Eve is a fantastic character, blindsided by grief and rage and desperate to avenge her daughter. She is a flawed and very human character and one that I warmed to immensely. The writing is also beautiful - there are some really tense and uncomfortable moments in the novel, perfectly captured in Engel's prose. However, I did guess the ending of the book right near the start - no spoilers, but it's a disappointment if you see it coming!

Overall, I'd recommend this book for the beautifully crafted writing and the character of Eve herself. I'd also suggest that you let the novel lead you- if you overthink, as I do with crime novels, you might be slightly let down by the ending.

I could not put this book down, fantastic storyline, so many twists and turns, definitely worth a read!

This is a harsh and grim tale but it’s compulsive reading. The setting for this book is Barren Springs, Missouri which is off the beaten track and a very hard place to make much of a living. In fact, it’s just a hard place. Two twelve year old girls, Izzy and Julie are murdered. Izzy’s parents are Jenny and Zach who are reasonably well off by the regions standards while Junie’s mum, the narrator Eve is by her own admission trailer trash. This novel is an eye opener as it shows the harsh reality of a world of grinding poverty, of wasted lives, of reflexive violence, living hand to mouth and the drug and alcohol addiction of people old before their time. Eve is tenacious in her desire to avenge the death of her beloved daughter who lit up her world and made her want to rise above what she is born into. Her pursuit for her brand of justice takes her on a shocking journey.

Amy Engel portrays the loss of a child, the overwhelming grief and pain in such a way that you feel it. Eve’s attitude to her loss is very thought provoking as she turns her grief to anger and utilises that for Junie. The author shows with great clarity that Eve’s world is now dark, dark dark as she reverts to the person she was before Junie was born. The world that Eve came from with a mother who is harsh, cruel, beyond mouthy, and a drug dealer with itinerant boyfriends is uncompromisingly bleak; there is no sugar coating in this tale. There are many characters in the book who are similar to this so when Eve is on the receiving end of an act of kindness it jolts you and is a welcome beam of light.

This is a well written, twisty, suspenseful novel with some jaw dropping shocks along the way and so dark you can hardly see your hand in front of you. Eve is as tenacious as a pit bull with a similar bite and I’m not sure if it’s possible to describe her as likeable but I do admire her survival instinct. The justice she metes out is biblical and not what most people would do though they may wish to. I think this is a novel that I’ll remember and I would recommend it to fans of this genre.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC.

What an immensely satisfying and thrilling read this was so don’t miss it !!
Two 12 year old girls Junie and Izzy are found dead in a playground and Eve Taggert the mother of Junie is determined to find out who and why would kill both her daughter and her daughter’s best friend. Eve who herself has had a very troubled past sets out to get to the bottom of the murders with the help of her brother Cal who is a police officer. And in a town full of secrets this is not going to be easy.
What follows is a story full of shocking twists that keeps you gripped and guessing right to the end and it’s a fabulous read.
It’s a dark and sad story one that is exceptionally well crafted, the characters are all flawed, real and believable and I was rooting for Eve (a excellently written character) to find the truth throughout.
An addictive and compulsive read that I can highly recommend I didn’t guess the ending and so that also for me was a bonus, many thanks to Amy Engel for a wonderful read.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Eve is no stranger to a tough life. Brought up by a mother renowned for her hard words and tough love, Eve has tried hard to move on. However, sometimes - as Eve points out - you need to pick your poison and when misfortune strikes Eve has to decide whether to let her mum back in.
When she fell pregnant at school Eve was determined to do a better job for her child. She couldn’t give Junie a room of her own, but she had love and the knowledge that her mum was on her side. Was it enough?
Quite early on in the story Eve is horrified to learn that her twelve year old daughter, along with her best friend Izzy, has been murdered.
Nobody seems to have any idea who was responsible. But it’s apparent that it’s someone known to those in the area. Eve can not wait for the law to take its course so she does her own digging. She tries every contact, past and present, and along the way uncovers a lot of unpleasant secrets.
A brief story that packs a lot in. There were some wholly unexpected revelations, and I may not like what Eve did but it’s completely understandable.
Thanks to NetGalley for granting me access to read this prior to publication in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance copy of The Familiar Dark set in the fictional Ozark town of Barren Springs.

When Eve Taggert’s 12 year old daughter, Junie, and her best friend, Izzy, are found murdered Eve is determined to find the killer by any means.

The Familiar Dark is not normally the type of novel I would choose to read as the synopsis makes it sound like vigilantism rather than a more regular investigation but I liked The Roanoke Girls and decided to take a chance. I really loved it as the author has a distinctive voice that really appeals to me. I think the term rural noir applies.

The novel is told in the first person from Eve’s point of view so the reader is dealing with a woman torn apart by grief and consumed with revenge. She is prone to impulsiveness and charges around town half cocked. In between her history is revealed in all its inglorious detail. It isn’t pretty but it’s raw and honest. I found it compulsive reading as it really made me feel, sometimes brought to tears at her difficult relationships and other times to laughter at her spunk and determination.

I loved the atmosphere of the novel, the poverty and what it makes people do, the uncompromising hardness of the characters as a result of never catching a break and beneath this the support and understanding of people with similar life experiences. I’m not sure if I’ve explained that well but the name of the town seems to sum it all up, the barren existence with a spring of humanity.

This is not a long novel but it seems the right length for the tale it has to tell. The plot is absorbing as Eve searches for answers, uncovering secrets and exposing human weakness. There are plenty of twists and OMG moments so nothing is wasted.

The Familiar Dark is a great read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I really enjoyed this book so much. It has a really great plot, superb main characters and I read it in one sitting. I would highly recommend this book.

Phew! This starts with the brutal murder of two teenage girls, which immediately sets the tone for how bleak and intense the rest of the story is. I blitzed through this in one sitting, it's a nicely paced mystery/thriller, with well timed reveals that keep you turning the page. At times it tended towards melodrama, but I loved the feminist undercurrent throughout. Definitely recommend, although be warned, it's a gut punch!

Eve Taggert grew up poor and feral with her brother Cal spending all their time trying not to turn out like their hard as nails, drug addict mother. Fatherless and loveless things turned around when Cal became a much respected officer of the law and Eve became a mother to Junie. Becoming a mother was the making of Eve, showing her daughter the love she never experienced.
When Junie and her friend Izzy are brutally murdered with no obvious leads or motives Eve takes matters into her own hands. Money,drugs and illicit encounters make for a page turning thriller. With Eve looking for answers she questions what she is becoming. After everything is she still her mother’s daughter?
After reading The Roanoke Girls I knew this would be a fab yet sometimes dark and uncomfortable read and I was right.
Highly recommended 5 stars

A thriller with plenty of twists and turns and an unexpected ending. I found the characters well portrayed but somehow just a little hard to relate too. Having said that I still read it in a day and would look for other books by the author.

Amy Engel's latest offering is a dark, fast-paced read which wonderfully captures small town America. Barren Springs is a place of secrets, lies and a motley crew of residents. The novel considers the relationships between mothers and daughters in particular, and the lengths we will go to in order to protect our children and avenge wrongdoing.

This was indeed a “dark”story, atmospheric and gripping but incredibly sad.
Two 12 year old girls are murdered in a park of a small American town, Barren Springs. In fact barren is indeed an apt description of the place. It contains many bleak characters scraping a living, several involved in drugs including one of the girl’s grandmothers,
Eve Taggart is the mother of murdered Junie and she resolves to try and find her daughter’s killer herself as she feels the police are not doing enough. Eve has been brought up dirt poor by her single mother who made her childhood unbearable. A succession of boyfriends, drugs, violence and life in a trailer ensures that Eve and her brother, Cal, leave as soon as they can. She has tried to do better for her own daughter but feels that it has done no good as she wasn’t there when Junie really needed her.
Eve remains close to Cal who has become a police officer and he has helped her as she struggled to bring up Junie alone. She no longer speaks to her mother and has kept Junie as far away from her as possible.
None of the characters in the book are as they seem- all have a dark side and secrets they are keeping. The reader feels for Eve who struggles with her grief and channels it into finding the killer in order to gain some closure. She has to unlock her hard core which she has kept hidden for many years in order to protect her daughter but now she needs it to find the truth.
There is only sadness in the story, it looks at the underside of small town America and the choices those with little are forced to make.
The men in the book are mostly predatory and misogynistic. The #metoo movement has not reached this town. Only Cal seems thoughtful and kind, supporting Eve through her grief.
This was a well written, evocative novel with interesting characters which was quick to read- I managed it in the course of a day whilst on holiday. Recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Familiar Dark treads much of the same ground as Engel's previous novel, The Roanoke Girls - rural poverty, family secrets, the legacy of abuse and childhood trauma - to similarly brilliant effect. She particularly excels at creating entirely believable characters; in the case of Eve, the reader feels the utmost sympathy for her even while her actions seem reprehensible. This is a short novel (I read it in the space of a couple of hours), but wholly absorbing and heart-breakingly sad. Highly recommended.

Gosh, but, this is so good! I enjoyed The Roanoke Girls by this excellent author, but, this is even better.

A heart wrenching story of the murder of two young girls and a mothers personal investigation.

It’s set in a strange, out of the way small town in America and the trailer park environment adds to the almost claustrophobic sense throughout the book. Amy Engel has a way of writing that pulls you in and won’t let go and this book really got under my skin and I couldn’t stop reading and thinking about it and the characters .

A beautifully written, poignant tale with soul.

Full 5* amazing read from me. When I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about it and couldn’t wait to get back to it and now I’ve finished, I feel lost, in the best way.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to preview this incredible book. A must read in 2020.

The Familiar Dark certainly is dark, I finished it not quite sure if I'd just read it or if someone had battered me around the head with it. When a book begins with a description of 2 young girls bleeding to death you kind of get the hint that you're not in for a comfortable read. Eve is a former wild child, from the wrong side of the tracks who gets pregnant after a one night stand ,straightens herself out , leads the best life she can and works hard to bring up daughter Junie the right way. At 12 years old Junie and best friend Izzy,from a local middle class family are the victims of the murder at the beginning of the book. A grief-stricken Eve,not thinking the local police...including brother Cal are doing enough to solve the crime ,tries to find the killer on her own. What follows is a tale of white trash America as Eve returns to the roots she's so desperately tried to leave behind convinced that the answer to her girl's death lie there. It's a world of meth labs, sleazy strip joints, perverts, corrupt small town cops and a former abusive and criminal boyfriend. Eve's estranged mother ,like many of the other characters,lives in a run down trailer living a life of sex with whoever wants sex,drink and drugs and is the redneck mom from hell.
Like Amy Engel's previous book,The Roanoke Girls, this is a very powerful book with some deeply flawed characters.....to put it mildly. It's raw and the brutal nature of such communities is laid wide open, everyone knows who the criminals are and that the local Cops are bent but that's just the way it and like much that goes on it's best not to speak of such things. It might be grim but it;s also superbly written and a great story, albeit one with very few light moments along the way . Eve is a great character, many of the others are pretty awful but there is a glimmer of something decent that comes from some of them as they try to help her in their own way.
Gripping stuff, I hadn't intended to read it one hit but that's exactly what happened. It's raw,gritty and downright unpleasant in places but it's a book you won't forget in a hurry and Ms Engels has another well-deserved massive hit on her hands.

Thanks to Amy Engel, Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a very good story. Kept me reading and wanting to know what was going to happen, looking forward to reading more from this author.