Book Review: The Dark End of Town

Reviewed By: Pat Reid - RAM

The Dark End of Town     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
Julia Pomeroy
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Amateur Sleuth
Series: Abby Silvernale
Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2006, 277 pps.

Who in their right mind would steal a car after the owner goes to bed and return it before the owner gets up and also be sure it is filled with gas? This is the first question that Abby Silvernale sets out to solve. Abby lives in the small resort town of Bantam, New York where she is employed as a waitress at the InnBetween. Her boss, Dulcie, calls her in the middle of the night to come and help her watch out for the culprit stealing Dulcie’s car.

Although Abby spots the person taking the car she is unable to see well enough to identify the person. The car borrowing stops as suddenly as it started.

Abby is a young widow still trying to come to terms with the fact that her husband, Jonah, committed suicide. She takes on an extra job to do some transcribing for one of the customers at the restaurant while he is out of town. Abby meets his housekeeper when she goes to do the transcribing and also meets the woman’s son whose big interest seems to be trucks. The housekeeper is found shortly afterward in her own home. She has been brutally murdered. Abby’s heart goes out to the son and she feels the need to help him.

A young woman in town mysteriously disappears. Soon Abby finds herself in the position of trying to help out the girl’s father in figuring out where she went and why.

With Abby’s friendly personality and natural curiosity it seems hard for her to keep out of trouble and she certainly runs into trouble when she starts putting together the missing pieces of all of these separate mysteries occurring in Bantam.

I am looking forward to reading more books about Abby Silvernale and the town of Bantam. I liked her character and the atmosphere of the town. I will be recommending this book to friends.

Pat Reid - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Pat Reid - RAM