Running In The Dark – Sam Reaves

Leaving the crowds of Manhattan after a relationship goes sour and tragic events unfold, Abigail finds herself in the middle of small town Indiana, prepared to begin a collegiate teaching career in mathematics. She settles in to an apartment rented to her by the enigmatic Ned, and begins calculus instruction at the nearby university. While going out for a run one night, she witnesses a murder disguised as a car accident – and she notices a man in the woods watching, who smiles at her before he turns to walk deeper into the woods, unnerving her. Additionally, a student begins to make unwanted advances on Abby, leaving her very unsettled. As tensions mount, Abby attempts to assist the police in identifying the man she saw, additional deaths occur, Abby feels as if someone is watching, and she finds herself in the crosshairs of an unknown adversary…

I enjoyed this book, although it did seem to move a bit slow for me at times. The characters were engaging, the story was realistic and the ultimate perpetrator was a surprise to me, although in hindsight, I should have guessed who it would be. A good book for anyone looking for a mellow mystery/adventure read. I will be reading more from Sam Reaves in the future!

Does running away ever help? Trouble follows you physically and emotionally. Abby starts again a fresh start. Trouble follows her.

Great fast read! Fast because I was so interested what happened next... suspenseful, and I loved that I didn't know who was who until very end.

I've enjoyed Sam Reaves's crime fiction in the past, including Dooley's Back and Homicide 69. This novel is a bit different. It's set in a small college town in Indiana, not in the big, bad city of Chicago, and the protagonist is a woman. Reaves knows college life and is able to create a realistic picture of what it's like to live in a tiny town where everyone is up in everyone else's business but there are still secrets to uncover.

Abby Markstein has left New York after a personal tragedy, needing a chance to start fresh. Taking a two-year gig teaching mathematics at a small college in rural Indiana might seem a safe break, but soon after arriving, she takes a run into the countryside and witnesses a car set on fire with someone inside. Worse yet, there's someone outside, watching. Smiling. She can't be sure whoever it is could recognize her, but she can't shake the feeling she's being watched. It doesn't help that one of her fellow professors is coming onto her, her landlord has a mysterious past, a student who doesn't understand boundaries has developed a crush on her, and the local Mexican population is threatened by whites who are sure they've brought crime to the small town.

This is a nicely plotted work of suspense with an appealing protagonist and an unusually realistic setting. It's a plus to see academic work accurately depicted featuring a woman character who is neither an emotional basket case or ninja warrior.

This novel takes place in a small town an hour of so out on the interstate from Chicago, a village called Lewisburg with Tippecanoe College, a small, private, expensive school. There is nothing exciting in Lewisburg but plenty just down the road.

If you happen to have a car. Imagine that. You need a car to go to the grocery store in Lewisburg. And it would help if you happen to have any experience driving a car. Of course our protagonist Abigail Markstein, born and raised and educated in New York City (NYU, Columbia, MIT) has a driver's license - everyone has to have photo ID - but she has never needed to actually use it. And that is just the first of many small niggling problems that normally wouldn't phase her. Abby is the new wonder kid in the math department at Tippecanoe. Her specialty is Combinatorics, and her thesis was on hyperplane arrangements in finite fields. She can handle problems.

But the tragedy that drove her to this posting in Illinois creates such a big lump in her psyche that every small setback feels like a giant sinkhole. Things will get better - she knows this. She has a support system just a phone call away and with time she will make friends and acquaintances in Lewisburg, and once she gets out on a couple of runs - she loves to run - things will get better.

And then on her first run in this new environment she comes upon a murder and the burning of the victim in his car. She learns later the victim was a lawyer she met her first night in town. And she sees the man who killed him. Grinning at her through the smoke and flame just as the sun crests over the hill behind him. And then a real estate personality is killed. Frederick is the typical sleazy slumlord. Abby had also met him on several occasions.

This novel is peopled with folks you feel like you know and understand. There is Ned McLaren, Abby's new landlord who lives in the house and Abby rents the basement which was set up nicely for his aging parents. He seems a bit mysterious but sweet and conscientious and the rent is very reasonable, the house just a block or so from the college. Some of his friends, not so clean cut. Natalia is a clerk in her father's little Mexican grocery store just down the street. Natalia is bright and kind and ambitious, wanting college, wanting travel, wanting help with math so she can retake the math SAT and qualify for college.... Her father and brother are in free fall, facing years in prison for various crimes - and mom will be moving back to Mexico, where Natalia has never been. Lisa Beth Quinton is the hard drinking local press writing most of the stories that actually show up in the local paper. She and her husband Jerry Collins, Psychology, take Abby under their wings. Phil Herzler in Classics, and his wife Ruth are fellow Jews though probably the only other one's in Lewisburg. Ben Larch, the student who falls hard for Abby and won't take no for an answer and reminds her too much of Evan back home. And Officer Ruffner is the policeman who steers Abby though the search for the man she saw at the site of the first murder.

This is a tight, fast read, one that is entertaining and holds your interest. I will want to read more by Sam Reaves.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Sam Reaves, and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

My full review can be found on my blog
https://wordpress.com/view/readingaroundthegenres.com

I found myself rooting for Abby but not so much the other characters. I liked the university background especially since I am a university instructor and can relate. However, the student’s involvement in the plot appeared to be rushed and slightly far-fetched. The book started off well but ended in a crawl to the finish, which abruptly ended with a twisted ending.

Started out decently enough, but then got to the point of ridiculousness. More holes in the plot than a bagel, and way too many names to remember. Convoluted and unbelievable. Hiw many murders does a new member of a community have to witness before they say I'm out of here? Sorry, but this novel just doesn't make my mind must-read list.

It was supposed to be a move that would make her life easier, but Abby Markham’s decision to accept a teaching job in little Lewisburg, Indiana will prove to be anything but easy. During a jog, she comes across a burning car, one man dead at the wheel, another smiling at her from the sidelines. This is only the first murder in a peaceful little town that is actually anything but. An intense intricately plotted thriller with a determined and spunky heroine

To me, the best parts of this book were the math, even if I didn't understand some of it.
This story starts off with a tragedy which casts a pall across the entire story- it seems the impact of this kind of tragedy has made a huge impact on the author. Abby attempts to reconcile herself by taking on a new job and town and from the get go finds herself in the midst of all sorts of drama.

Of course the bad guys can seem benign, the icky ones find themselves in trouble, and our heroine has got to make prudent decisions. For the most part she does, and I will be interested to see what other little secrets she will uncover in this town.
I am used to unlikely detectives, but have never had one teach math before. Very refreshing.

Running in the Dark written by author Sam Reaves starts out well but the story fizzles out. There is definitely a lot of mystery. The characters need more development. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the advance copy.