What I loved about this novel is its retro quality. There was no Girl on the Train, no child in either immediate danger or possibly resurfacing after disappearing years before, no wife-who-may-not-be-who-she-claims. Instead, there is quality story telling about a small town in the Texas panhandle in 1970 that has more life in it than one would expect. There's a community college with an art professor and his unconventional family, a large family of Mexican heritage with a son who is a genius at the violin and a symphony orchestra for him to perform with, a very active community drama group. Oh yes, and several pot growing enterprises that taught me more about marijuana husbandry than I'd ever known before. It has some elements of a thriller, but it is the characters that engaged me the most. The author's love of music is obvious throughout, and I loved even a dog named Leary who is supposed to guard the, ahem, crop.