A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

As a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, I am a sucker for things set here.  Most of us are.  We hoot and shout during Wagon Wheel, we at least attempt to tackle Outlander because in like season 37 they come to North Carolina or some bizarre representation thereof, we are flattered (if confused) by Where the Crawdads Sing and its use of our state's geography (who knew quick shopping trips from the beach to Asheville were so common?!), we will fight you over Charles Frazier.

So it's no surprise that when I found out (directly from the author herself) that Therese Anne Fowler was coming out with a book set in a fictionalized version of a local neighborhood, I was very interested.  Therese is always excessively kind in coming to our book club meetings and so we've snagged her again for a Zoom meeting later this year where we'll discuss A Good Neighborhood, the third of her books that we've read.  And we don't just keep reading them because we can have a brush with celebrity afterwards.  We read them because they're freaking good.

Her writing is believable, even when addressing strange topics.  And the characters are complete people with realistic motives and feelings.  It's hard for me to not relate to a book where a character says, "I might could."

A Good Neighborhood does not disappoint.  It hurts and bewilders, and at times frustrates.  But it's a good book with a lot to say and a unique way of saying it.  Like a Greek chorus, a third-person semi-omniscient narrator representing the residents of the neighborhood guides us through this story.  We enter the minds of all the relevant characters and find the sources of misunderstandings and resentments.

This story could easily take place in many different places in this country, but I recognized so many of the things that form our character here.  There is the tension of a neighborhood changing from a modest, quiet place to one now sprouting mini-mansions filled with the nouveau riche while still housing the long-established residents.  There is also the tension between races in a world quickly changing but not always keeping up with itself.

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There is one typo I noticed in the ebook.

The Woodchipper Murder

The Woodchipper Murder, by Arthur Herzog, Jr., could have been a much better book.

The story is true and incredibly lurid. Richard Crafts murdered his wife, Helle, in their own bedroom, froze her body, and then fed it through a woodchipper into a flowing river in an attempt to dispose of the remains. During and after this, he told everyone that Helle had disappeared, leaving him to care for their young children alone.

This book gets across the bare facts of the case and occasionally strays into muddy speculation. But it manages to make a fascinating story downright boring. The structure is poor and criticism of the police, forensic experts, and other investigators is thrown in with a heavy hand. Instead of being allowed to follow the information and come to conclusions on their own, readers are clubbed over the head with the idea that this person is EVIL or that person is STUPID.

If you like true crime and have a bit of patience, you probably won't be too disappointed by The Woodchipper Murder. But if there is another book out there on this same case, I can almost guarantee that it's better.