A young woman (26) whose father was killed 23 years ago and whose mother went missing, presumed dead, finds out that the murderer has been set free and is coming back to town. We now go back in time to 1986 and learn about all the events that took place leading up to the infamous crime.

Once we have all the information regarding the events of the past, the author takes us back to the present to see how the story unfolds. This is a mystery so not too much can be said here. I am not one who reads the standard mystery and was happy to see that this was literary fiction with elements of a mystery thrown in.

I felt that the author did a wonderful job painting life in a small farm town in the heart of Kansas. The characters she created jumped off the pages. My only grumble about the main family in the story, the Linders, were that I kept having flashes of Bonaza and kept picturing the patriarch as Ben Cartwright :) I found it a bit distracting. Another grumble is that I wished the author would have fleshed out the character who was accused of the murder. Billy seemed like just a mean and nasty person all the way around and I guess that's what led to his troubles. However I found it very hard believe that his wife would have stuck with him all those years and waited for him in the end. There times when I was just lost in the people and found myself not trying to solve or figure out the mystery and I liked that I was able to just let that go and get lost in the story itself.
I felt the story weakened a bit when we back in time a second round to see how the events of that horrible evening really went and who committed the crime seemed a bit hurried and settled into a somewhat formulaic ending.

Not to say that I did not enjoy this book. I couldn't put it down! It was a very engaging read, well-written with characters you could care about. I only had a few grumpy moments. I would recommend it.