Dahlia’s Gone: A Novel

Katie Estill
St. Martin’s Press (2007)
ISBN 9780312358358
Reviewed by AJ Cooper for Reader Views (4/07)


This is a story of three strong women brought together by the most horrific of circumstances.  Sand is the married, free-spirited, next-door-neighbor to Norah. Norah is the mother of two, a son and stepdaughter. Patti is the divorced, local police officer.

The first line, “A promise can change a life.” stopped me in my tracks and I realized just how true a statement that really is. The disappointment of the first line hits home when Dahlia, Nora’s stepdaughter is found dead in her bed with her stepbrother, Timothy downstairs watching television. Norah the stepmother of Dahlia has made Sand promise she will check-up on her kids while she takes a trip with her husband. Sand thought she was doing the right thing in agreeing to help her neighbor since they had watched Sand’s house while she was away with her husband. Because of the terrible storm that was going through the area at the time of the discovery Sand was enlisted by the local police to take the crime pictures.

The murder ripped the entire town apart and everyone expected that a stranger must have committed this horrible crime. This is an intimate view of the workings of a small town and how quickly the town took sides, many were against Sand because she was after all suppose to be keeping an eye on the kids. The revelation of the killer just about broke the back of the entire town.

I could not stop reading this book. The suspense grabbed me and never let go until I read the last word. No one ever expects something bad to happen in their small town and when it does it turns everything upside down. Anyone that enjoys a good mystery will find “Dahlia’s Gone” a real pleasure. The words are so descriptive and I can really picture in my mind what is going on. I will be recommending this book to my family and friends.

Make comment on weblog