n Chanelle Benz’s debut novel, she asks us to consider our physical and intangible inheritances and what demons could be lurking within them. In doing so, Benz weaves a powerful tale of reckoning, both amongst the characters and the readers themselves. The Gone Dead steals your attention instantly with mystery and suspense, but keeps it throughout the novel with an unapologetically honest story of family, justice and the South.

Billie James, a grant writer from Philadelphia, leads us back to the Mississippi Delta. At four years old, her father, an influential black poet, died, spurring her departure from the South. She has now returned to inherit her father’s home and the secluded site of his death. As she unpacks her new life, a varied cast of characters emerges, all seeming to know more about her past than Billie herself. When she discovers that she was reported missing the night her father died, Billie questions who to trust. With help and hindrance from cousins, uncles and neighbors, Billie begins to piece together her family’s past. Facts are unearthed, pasts are presented and demons are revealed; quickly Billie realizes she might have inherited more than just a rundown house.

Benz seamlessly deposits us in the Delta, with her precise painting of both the scenery and the culture. The chapter-changing narrators give the reader subtle glimpses into each of the characters’ lives and the truths they believe, but each perspective manages to keep the story grounded and focused on Billie. While struggling to find out who she is, Billie emerges as an arresting and powerful heroine.

Through openhearted storytelling, The Gone Dead illustrates the racism still present in our communities today. With the father’s death set shortly after the Civil Rights Movement, Benz casts a light onto the injustices that were ignored because people believed that since acts were passed, problems were solved. Additionally, Billie narrates from 2003, creating a striking comparison for the reader to decide what has—or often what has not— changed over 30 years.

Although The Gone Dead is a story about corruption and prejudices, it is also a novel of strength, hope and growth. Billie James defies cliched definition but undoubtedly rises as a symbol of inspiration. Her authentic characters and beautifully-crafted story makes Chanelle Benz a necessary voice in contemporary Southern literature.

Bone chilling to the end. I thoroughly enjoyed. I read it in one sitting and hated when it ended. Masterful job of storytelling.

I loved this debut novel set in the Delta. I'm a big fan of stories set in this area. It seems like the characters tend to be so different yet similar to many I know. The setting is moody, prejudicial and relations with outsiders can be viewed with suspicion. This is what Billie encounters when she returns home to Mississippi to claim her small inheritance left to her by her renowned poet father. Both of her parents have died, her mother recently and her father when she was 4 in what was called an accident. Although she was there she has no memory of what happens. The longer Billie stays, the rumors start swirling around her about events that happened that might relate to the accident. The more she investigates, the more unsettled she becomes with the existing truth. We have secrets and lies set in a racially charged atmosphere. The descriptions and setting are authentically portrayed. I couldn't put it down. Thanks to net galley and the publisher for this book. I look forward to reading more by this author.

In 2002 when Billie inherits the house in which her father Clifton died 30 years before, she returns to Mississippi and discovers that his death had not been as straight forward as it appeared. Clifton had been a well known black poet and was divorced from his white wife Pia. Billie was 4 when her father died. I enjoyed the dialogue and the characters, particularly Billie, her uncle Dee and her father’s girlfriend Carlotta. I also admired Billie’s dogged determination to get to the truth. It felt realistic and I was glad that the ending left loose ends. I wasn’t that crazy about the fact that the story was told in first person present tense from the points of view of 8 different characters. It made the writing feel kind of clunky. Nevertheless, I would be interested in reading more by this author. The narration by Bahni Turpin of the audio book was very good.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

The Gone Dead checks so many squares on my personal Book Bingo board -- a mystery from the past that hasn't been satisfactorily solved, a hometown return (especially one involving a rundown, inherited house), multiple perspectives, the "longing and water and ghosts" of the deep South ... But for some reason, this was not a page-turner for me. There were almost too many perspectives; I wanted to spend more time with Billie, Harlan, and Dee (and MUCH less time with Dr. Melvin Hurley, ugh). There were some very well-written pages (and that final sentence!!), but more than once I found myself wishing that I was re-reading Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke, and I would definitely recommend that book over this one.

Billie James has inherited a run down family house in Mississippi. She returns to the small town where her family is from, leaving Philadelphia, PA behind for a little while. However, family secrets and old memories beckon her to stay. I was sucked in like Billie James into this book. I found myself feverishly reading to discover along with Billie. I really enjoyed this book and the author’s style. She gives many characters’ perspectives through the book- some characters come and go for short stays and Billie stays the most as the main character. The characters all have great voice in this book as well. I found myself highlighting some great lines or thoughts of a character. Yes, a worthy read!

Billie James is a unique protagonist. She is the daughter of a white woman who studied life in the Middle Ages and a black man who was a poet on the cutting edge of the late 1960s in the Mississippi delta area. Both her parents are deceased. Mom died more recently of a prolonged illness but Dad died years ago in Mississippi. Billie decides to leave Philadelphia to claim her inheritance….a bit of land and a falling apart shack in Mississippi.

When Billie returns she wants to discover exactly how her father died. Billie was there but too young to remember any real details. The unraveling of what may have happened begins a mystery into the past not only of Billie but the culture and times of this Mississippi environment. Billie soon learns that there are those who are not willing to have that chapter reopened.

The strength of this book is not the mystery but the exploration of what life was like in small town Mississippi. Although Billie may intellectually grasp what transpired, it isn’t until she is truly involved with people who were present that she fully understands the past. Recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

A slowly unwinding Southern mystery, I enjoyed The Gone Dead quite a bit - with some caveats. Benz’s story - Billie, in her 30s, inherits the house where her father died and she went briefly missing when she was four, and starts barking up the wrong white-supremacist tree as comes to believe her fathers death was not an accident and searches for the truth - was strong, as was the character development; I found myself really rooting for Billie and I loved most of the supporting characters (especially Carlotta who I wish we got more of). That said, I found Benz’s writing style to be at times kind of...forced? Strange? For instance, Billie’s deodorant came up at least three or four times in ways that really stuck out to me but not because they were adding anything to the plot. We get it, Mississippi is hot, Billie is sweating. I fell fully into the story of Billie’s father Cliff, a black poet and anti-segregation activist, to be beautiful and captivating - I wanted to learn more about him and wished more of the book were dedicated to telling his story. I also ultimately found the climax and resolution to feel a bit rushed after the preceding 90% of the novel moved at a relatively slow pace (befitting a Mississippi summer). I liked the story but overall the book left me wanting more; The Gone Dead would have benefitted from being longer in order to really give the characters and the themes of racism, segregation, violence, and the cost of ruthless white supremacy in the South room to be more fully fleshed out.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the ARC. I’m looking forward to reading more from Chanelle Benz in the future after this solid freshman novel.

Posted on Goodreads 5/13 and Instagram 5/14.