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Saturday, May 7, 2016

THE MAY QUEEN MURDERS by Sarah Jude

26313058Published May 3rd 2016 by Harcourt Brace and Company 
Read: May 2016
How I Got It: Ebook (approximately 288 pages) from NetGalley 

Rowan’s Glen is an isolated farming town that lives by its own traditions. Ivy Templeton loves living in the Glen despite its shady past and its secrets. The May Queen, of the May Day celebration, was murdered many years ago, and legend has it her murderer, Birch Markle, still lurks in the woods. When animals are found all around the Glen brutally slaughtered, the Glen folk believe Markle may be back. When Ivy suspects her cousin, who is also her best friend, Heather, is sneaking around after dark, she becomes worried. Her worry escalates when Heather is crowned the new May Queen, and then subsequently disappears. The town goes on hunts for Markle, but it's Ivy who will find out what really happened to Heather. 


The plot of the May Queen Murders is fresh and intriguing, however the execution is lacking. The dialogue is inconsistent as some dialogue is well articulated but other parts are presented in broken slang and stuttering. Readers will cringe with every stutter or mention of the word “a’int”; these character choices by the author do not add to the story but instead serve to distract the reader. Also, the story is rather slow moving until the reveal in the last several pages. The ending is almost worth working through reading the whole book, but readers would better off skipping this one. Or perhaps, they should watch M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, the story line isn’t the same at all, but Rowan’s Glen certainly brings that vibe to mind.

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with  an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review. 

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