The premise was interesting and unusual: while taking her dog for a walk in the woods behind her house, Fran becomes witness to the gruesome murder of a teenaged boy. Though shaken by fear, she soon starts digging around to find out why Tyler had to die. Her curiosity leads her into the depth of some dark family secrets and into the sight line of some very dangerous people.
Fran is a likeable enough character but her actions often made me shake my head in disbelief, and I had to agree with her husband who chided her for her thoughtless, careless and irresponsible behavior which ultimately put them all in danger.
Middle-aged Fran was a refreshing change from the usually younger main characters, but with her years of experience she should have known better than to become a little Miss Marple and dig around like that. What I enjoyed mostly was the little moments and dialogues in between that were not necessarily linked to the crime case. The ending wrapped things up in a fitting though foreseeable finale.
This was a decent and entertaining crime thriller though in my opinion the plot relied too much on implausible behavior and convenient circumstance.
(thanks to netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of the book, all opinions are my own)