Author: Dannie Boyd
Genre: Thriller - Mystery - Magical Realism
Publisher: Indigo Dot Press - Copyright 2023
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781958160046
Read: March 19-21, 2023
Disclaimer: I received a digital advance reader copy from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis from Publisher: It’s hard to catch a killer when the only witness is a tree.
In 1853, after Catherine Miller is murdered for daring to become a doctor in a field full of men, a molecular fusion between human decay and natural rebirth transforms her into a Northern Red Oak. One hundred and seventy years later, she remains a mute but sentient tree, rooted near a secluded Northeast Ohio house. After she watches in horror as the newest homeowner murders one of his PhD students, Catherine is resolved, somehow, to see that justice gets served.
Fortunately, present-day Catherine has an unwitting ally: Lani Whitaker, a fourth-generation detective facing mandatory retirement and sick of being treated like a dried-up relic by her young chief of police. When the body of that same PhD student turns up in the woods, Lani is determined to solve the case and go out with a win.
Two women, generations apart, linked to each other through murder. Can solving a twenty-first-century homicide shed light on a nineteenth-century killer?
Review: First, let me say that Dannie Boyd is a pen name for author Carrie Rubin, who has several medical thrillers published under her own name. Apparently she chose a pen name for Fractured Oak because it deals with magical realism, a departure from her normal books, in addition to the mystery of who killed whom. With that being said, on to the review...
I really enjoyed the premise of this book. Catherine, the third woman to graduate from medical school in the United States, is murdered in 1853, discovers her soul melded with that of an oak tree, and then finds herself witness to a modern-day murder. This alone was enough to hook me into the story because trees live silent lives, and honestly, I have often wondered what they may have witnessed over their lifespans--especially the long-lived trees like oaks and redwoods. What horrors have they seen? What joys? What forgotten moments and forgotten people have they known? At least in some way, Boyd has answered a few of these questions by telling part of the story from Catherine the Tree's point of view.
Then there's Lani, the detective trying to solve the murder. Faced with ageism, she's determined to not let everything she's worked her entire life to achieve go down without a fight. I loved her spirit and her humor. I've known my fair share of cops, and Lani would be right at home among any of them.
The best part about Fractured Oak is that as a reader I got a two-for-the-price-of-one murder plot. Told in alternating points of view between Catherine and Lani, and although the murderer is known for the contemporary death, there's no lack of tension because that comes in the form of the uncertainty of whether Lani will catch the killer. The resolution of Catherine's murder in 1853 is left until the end but is no less satisfying.
Fractured Oak is a unique blend of mystery, psychological thriller, and magical realism that simply works in a beautiful blend of colorful characters, detailed world building, mysterious clues, and a touch of magic.
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