Annie has moved back to Garnett, TX after college. Working as a waitress at the cafe, she makes a friend. When Victoria ends up dead, Annie begins working with her grandfather to find out who did it.
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A rather ordinary mystery with an intriguing main character and a setting that really comes alive. Annie has just recently graduated from college and is back in her small hometown waiting tables at the local diner. While she is trying to decide what to do next, her co-worker ends up dead and another co-worker is accused of murder. She teams up with her grandfather (retired sheriff, now private detective) and his partner to find the real killer.

The story is filled with family dynamics and small town drama (trauma!) and that's actually the best part. Some reviewers noted that they had figured out the mystery early on, I didn't notice that, but I really didn't care who turned out to be the killer. I was more involved in the setting and the characters. Allen is a Texan and it shows. This is a true to life depiction of small town, oil country life and her descriptions really bring the area to life. Although many of the place names have been fictionalized, the distinctive nature of the region is clearly detailed. I hope to read more from this author.

NOTE: Allen has her MFA from Texas State University in San Marcos in the Hill Country of Texas. Also my alma-mater. Nice to read something from a fellow alum.

When you are hesitating making life decisions, you resort to the familiar. In PAY DIRT ROAD, Annie finds her self waitressing in the small Texas town she grew up in. This is not where she pictured herself at this point in her life. When a fellow waitress is murdered, Annie will reluctantly join with her Grandfather to investigate.

This is the first book in a new series. Usually the first book is slower, building back story and characters. With this one, page one draws us right into Garnett, Texas and introduces us to characters that are three dimensional from the start. I may be from a small Oklahoma town, but Garnett could be right down the road from me. The drama and tension build slowly but there's no doubt SOMETHING BIG is about to happen. I'm pretty happy that I managed to find the first book in what looks to be a very good series.

This was an atmospheric, intense mystery in a small Texas town.

Can you go home again? Annie McIntyre has a love/hate relationship with Garnett,
Texas but now she has returned to her hometown of Garnett, Texas after college. She never really wanted to come back that badly, but she's unsure of what to do with her future, so she's living with her cousin and waitressing full-time.
When one of her fellow waitresses goes missing, Annie can't understand what might have happened to her. She convinces her grandfather, Leroy, who's supposed to be retired, and his partner in a detective agency, to let her help investigate the disappearance. Annie and Leroy begin an investigation that leads them down rural routes and haunted byways, to noxious-smelling oil fields and to the glowing neon of local honky-tonks.
But as Annie searches for answers, she comes face to face with the romantic failures of her past, as well as a painful memory she's all but blocked. And the closer they get to the truth, the more dangerous it becomes emotionally and physically.
There's a pervasive sense of sadness and danger that hangs above this story, which added to its vivid atmosphere. I really liked Annie as a character. Even though she is a young adult, it still felt like she was coming of age, albeit in a hard way. I also enjoyed the complex, multi-layered, small-town dynamics. The crime and the pursuit of truth were interesting and the pacing was good.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Annie McIntyre returns to her small hometown after college. She’s working as a waitress while figuring out what she wants to do with her life. One of the other waitresses goes missing, and Annie decides to investigate. She and her grandfather, a private investigator, work together to uncover what happened.

Pay Dirt Road is a slow-burning, atmospheric mystery. With strong character development and a haunting setting, this debut novel was an entertaining read. I look forward to more from this author.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Annie returns to her small Texas home town after graduating from college only to find herself waitressing and considering taking the law school admissions test. When a co-worker is found dead after a bonfire, Annie finds herself teaming up with her grandfather at his private investigations firm to solve the mystery. Pay Dirt Road is a mix of high school reminiscence combined with land rights and murder. It is a sad story about a smart woman who gets stuck in small town Texas.

A young woman comes back to her small town and finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. As she gets involved in the case, she deals with the trappings of her past. Author Samantha Jayne Allen takes readers to the deep heart of a Texas town in lush prose with a plot that could have used more heft in her debut novel Pay Dirt Road.

Annie McIntyre has come back to Garnett, Texas, to try to make sense of her life. When she left town for college, it seemed like she was on the verge of something. Instead of stepping from higher education into a high-flying career, though, she’s fallen pretty hard back to reality. With student loans looming over her head, Annie has come home and is waiting on tables while she tries to figure out what she wants to do next.

Law school is a vague idea that she’s toyed with, but she can’t work up the interest to go through with applications and exams. Instead, she moves back in with her cousin, Nikki, and finds herself working with people she’s known for years in the town’s one main café. So much for a grand life after high school.

Then one of the other waitresses at the café goes missing, and Annie can’t get the incident out of her head. She actually saw the waitress, Victoria, on that last night. Annie, Nikki, and a bunch of other young adults from town end up at the same bonfire gathering. Victoria shows up drunk but looking for a good time. Despite Annie’s gentle insistence that she leave, Victoria is determined to get her kicks.

When Victoria’s body is found days later, everyone in the town is horrified. Annie chides herself for not trying harder to get Victoria to leave the bonfire. Her guilt leads her back to Victoria’s life and the circumstances around her murder. It’s clear that’s what has happened, but the police have their hands full with a hit-and-run case that happened the same night as Victoria’s death.

Annie knows it can’t be a coincidence that two major crimes happened within hours of each other. She joins her grandfather, Leroy, a retired cop and private investigator, to try to figure out what happened. A major oil company is poised to start laying down pipeline in the area, including on Victoria’s land. Annie starts chasing down leads in that direction, but she can’t help feeling Victoria’s case has a much more personal tie to her own life.

The more Annie tries to figure out what happened to Victoria, the less helpful people are. As she circles back to all the places where she used to hang out in high school and reconnects with old flames, Annie must also face an uncomfortable incident from her own past. She can’t help compare her own circumstances to what happened to Victoria, even as she understands the vast differences between them.

Author Samantha Jayne Allen offers prose reminiscent of the beautiful writing in Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. The stark, rough terrain of a small town in Texas is balanced by Allen’s thoughtful, careful descriptions, making the bleak circumstances more obvious. Readers will find many instances where they will want stop to admire Allen’s writing, which brings to life the Texas heat and the landscape’s unforgiving nature.

Beautiful descriptions and insightful introspection can’t quite make up for a plot that’s too light. Given the amount of time Annie spends thinking about Victoria and how much living in a small town affects her, readers might expect the murder investigation to have more movement and action. In reality, however, the bulk of the investigation consists of Annie, Leroy, and Leroy’s partner, Mary-Pat trying to convince people to talk to them in the hopes of revealing clues in Victoria’s murder. Little else is done to get to the bottom of the crime.

Allen does her best to draw parallels between Annie’s life and Victoria’s, but it’s difficult to muster up sympathy for Victoria’s plight given the short period of time between the start of the book and the time she goes missing. Readers don’t have enough time to get to know her or to get emotionally involved in her friendship with Annie.

Frequent flashbacks in the book come without warning or transition, which interrupts the reading process. The promise in Allen’s writing clearly shines, however. Those interested in a book about a small Texan town dealing with poverty murder might want to check this out.

Thank you to netgalley.com for this ARC.

This was a semi-mystery, semi-family drama, semi-finding yourself novel set in the modern day. I liked the story line of the main character and her grandfathers relationship. The mystery itself was just ok - while not necessarily predictable - it wasn't the overwhelming part of the story.

This book held my interest and was entertaining.

The low ranking is not a reflection of the work itself, but rather speaks to the fact that I selected other books over this title.

Samantha Jayne Allen’s Pay Dirt Road is the story of Annie McIntyre. Annie, who recently graduated from college, joins her family’s private investigation business. I voluntarily read this complimentary copy of this intriguing novel. As Annie searches for the truth of a recent disappearance, she starts to learn more about her past and herself.

Small-town Texas with "its not supposed to happen here" gets a rude awakening as a young waitress disappears. Annie McIntyre joins Grandpa LeRoy to investigate and Annie finds some things she discovers "too close for comfort" to events in her own life. Small town characters help to pull the story along and fill in some background to the evolving story. A good read that had some parts that moved a little slowly, but overall the first-time author has writing skills to look forward to in future books. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #PayDirtRoad #NetGalley.

The past does not stay hidden forever.
Annie McIntyre lives in Texas; Garnett, Texas; in God’s country, and “Pay Dirt Road” is her first person narrative. Events from her past, like a blast of Texas weather that one can see coming for miles, dominate her thoughts. She knows everyone and has known them for a while, known them before. She came back to Garnett not for some sense of purpose, but rather because here she was loved and loved well. Now, working in a café, with her college degree going to waste and student loans to be repaid, she wonders how she could be related to these people.
The complex story unfolds by going back and forth in time. Readers learn what they need to know in the order in which they need to know it. The past is complicated; some see it as dark or ugly, but others want to turn over that past and take a closer look. Annie wonders if she had not gone to that place that day, had not witnessed it, would she have done something entirely different with her life. Some people never change; they carry the past with them, and eventually that past must be resolved in the present, and that task falls to Annie. She discovers that details of the story are missing or hidden, but every missing part will lead her to the answer. She could be a good detective; she wants to uncover the truth, to make things right.
“Pay Dirt Road” is filled with of sensory descriptions that pull readers into the story: the quiet except for the road sounds from the highway overpass; the smell of icing filling the room; flecks of dry grass and foxtails stuck to their pant legs; the still air horizon the horizon wavy with shimmering heat. The pace is slow and deliberate but contains enough twists and surprises to keep readers involved.
I received a review copy of “Pay Dirt Road” from Samantha Jayne Allen, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books. It seems at first to be a light read, but as events unfold, the story becomes more complicated, compelling, and addictive.
“Pay Dirt Road” is now available in print, as an e-book, and on audio from independent bookstores, online booksellers, retail stores, public libraries and anywhere you get your books.

Pay Dirt Road, Samantha Jayne Allen's debut mystery, has a strong sense of place. She excels at bringing small-town Texas to life. Unfortunately, I found the plot plodding and slow. The flashbacks felt jarring and it wasn't always clear what timeline we were in.

Thank you NetGalley for this advance Ebook/ Audio in exchange for my honest review.

This is about Annie who comes home after college and not being able to find a job in her field so she comes home and starts waitressing and then starts working with her grandfather as a PI. when one of her fellow waitress is found dead. Annie wants to help to get to the bottom of what happen to her friend.

This book follows her looking for clues and getting to the bottom of what happen.

I felt the pacing a little slow there was just a lot of random moments in the story that didn't help advance the story for me. I had a feeling it was 1 of 2 people and I was spot on with the 2nd choice. Once she had memories from old parties things starting clicking.

I wish the pacing was a little bit faster and the end once we go there was a over far to fast for me.

I would be interested in reading more from this author since this was her debut.

Thank you Netgalley and Recorded Books for the gifted audiobook I read alongside the physical ARC I got from Minotaur.

A pitch perfect portrayal of small town Texas. Annie has ended up back in her hometown after college and is unsure what is next on her life trajectory. When her fellow waitress from the local diner goes missing, she finds herself working with her grandfather, the former sheriff turned PI, to figure out who is responsible. She stumbles into crime solving, clues, and actually the conclusion of this case. Which could be marked as detrimental to this book, but I think it is an excellent series opener because it gives her so much room to grow and develop as an investigator. Sometimes detectives are too on the nose and almost clairvoyant in their crime solving skills, but Annie has grit and I think she is going to have such a great character arc over this series.

Annie McIntyre is treading water. She graduated from college and is now back home, figuring out what's next. Home is Garrett, Texas, a small town she thought she was leaving behind. She didn't think she would be back and working as a waitress at the town's cafe. She also didn't think she would still be attracted and torn between two men she dated in high school.
The McIntyre family is well known. Annie's grandfather was the police chief and everyone knows him. Her father was a policeman as well for a while. They live in town now but still have the old homestead farm.

Annie's life becomes even more complicated when a tragedy occurs. Another waitress at the diner, Victoria, has been murdered. Annie saw her the night she disappeared at a party she went to. Victoria was drunk and flirting with some men from outside town; workers of a pipe construction company that wants to buy the land Victoria just inherited from her grandmother. Annie looked for Victoria before she left but couldn't find her. The next thing she heard was that Victoria's body had been found. Could Annie have saved her if she had looked for her harder? Can she find the murderer now?

This is a debut novel from Samantha Jayne Allen. She gets the small town relationships and sense of boredom and frustration right. Annie is a sympathetic character, searching for the next chapter in her life and caring for those around her. The book has interesting subordinate characters such as Annie's private investigator grandfather and his woman partner and various women and men Annie grew up with but realizes she doesn't really know. This book won the Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery set in the Southwest and is recommended for mystery readers.

After talking with some trusted reviewers who didn't like this one, I decided to sample but could not get into this book. Thanks for the consideration.

Perfectly serviceable small town mystery. After college Annie returns to her hometown, Garnett, Texas. She is working as a waitress when two murders happen on the same day. Annie joins forces with her Grandpa at his private investigation firm to solve these murders.

**I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

I read this book with special interest because it's set in Central Texas, just a bit north of where I live in San Antonio. Unlike many books set in Texas, the details that gave it a sense of place weren't gratuitous or stereotypical but authentic and added to an understanding of the place that made the book's heroine, who is evolving from a half-hearted interest in law school to finding her place as a private detective in a family business. The victim in the case that pulls her in is appealing (a single mother), and the heroine's interest in her, as a co-worker who was there the night she disappeared, seems legitimate. There are some well-sketched minor characters, and there is good series potential here. I will look forward to it.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for my e-book of Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen.

Synopsis:
Recently graduated from college and home waitressing, lacking not in ambition but certainly in direction, Annie is lured into the family business — a private investigation firm — by her supposed-to-be-retired grandfather, Leroy, despite the rest of the clan’s misgivings.

When a waitress at the café goes missing, Annie and Leroy begin an investigation that leads them down rural routes and haunted byways, to noxious-smelling oil fields and to the glowing neon of local honky-tonks. As Annie works to uncover the truth she finds herself identifying with the victim in increasing, unsettling ways, and realizes she must confront her own past — failed romances, a disturbing experience she’d rather forget, and the trick mirror of nostalgia itself — if she wants to survive this homecoming.

I immersed myself into Pay Dirt Road right away though it was more of a slow burn and often times I forgot what I had read. I felt that this was a very character driven book which sometimes I do really enjoy. There were some interesting parts of the book and the premise was good. I do look forward to reading more by this author in the future.