Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be hosting today's stop
The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman Blog Tour
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| Quercus March 2017 |
What's it all about..
Eighteen-year-old Hattie Hoffman is the brightest star of her small town – until she is brutally murdered on the opening night of her high school play. Set across eight months before and after her murder, we flick between three narrators, Hattie, her high school English teacher Peter and local town sheriff Del Goodman, to find out what secrets this small town is hiding and what really happened to Hattie Hoffman.
It's no spoiler to say that,
Hattie Hoffman, the eponymous
protagonist of the story meets an untimely death fairly early on the story but
what then follows is the why and wherefore of how this terrible act was allowed
to happen. Following Hattie's life very closely during the previous eight
months we start to build up a picture of her life and also of the people who
live alongside her in the small Mid-Western American town of Pine Valley in
rural Wabash County.
Told in the voices of three
narrators; that of Hattie, Peter Lund her high school English teacher, and Del
Goodman, the local sheriff who has known Hattie since she was new-born, together their unique perspectives allow the story to take flight.
Expertly plotted and with several
twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and just as many red herrings, this
is a murder mystery which captures the imagination from the very beginning. The
complex police procedural part of the story is well done, especially the
limitations imposed on Del and his team who try to piece together the limited
amount of clues in the full spotlight of a small town for whom a murder
investigation is a complete anathema. Del finds out to his cost that Pine Valley doesn't give up its secrets
easily and as the story progresses it becomes obvious that some secrets are
buried so deep that they are going to be almost impossible to locate.
It's difficult not to fall in
love with Hattie. She's as bright as a button, filled with the joie de vivre
that can only come from being nearly eighteen and wanting everything that the
world can offer. The author does a great job of bringing Hattie's vibrant
personality to life. We share in her triumphs and watch as she takes the first
tentative steps towards what will ultimately bring about her doom.
The author has captured the
essence of small town America very well. Pine Valley is overwhelmingly provincial in its outlook and blinkered
and stifled when it comes to letting one of its brightest birds flee the nest.
Hattie was a star just waiting to fly until the fickle finger of fate
intervened and cut short her life so horribly that it hurt to see her go.
The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman is this author's first book to be published in the UK. I look forward to reading more from this talented author.
Best Read With...Chicken and Mushroom potpie and a cool glass of Pinot Grigio..
About the Author
Mindy Mejia received her MFA from Hamline University and
published her first novel, The Dragon Keepers, with Ashland Creek Press. She
lives and writes in Minnesota.
Mindy Mejia received her MFA from Hamline University and
published her first novel, The Dragon Keepers, with Ashland Creek Press. She
lives and writes in Minnesota. Follow on Twitter @MejiaWrites #HattieHoffman @QuercusBooks
My thanks to Olivia at Quercus for the invitation to be part of this blog tour
Blog Tour runs 6th -17th March
The Last Act of Hattie Hoffman is published on the 9th March 2017
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