A suspense novel filled with family secrets. It was a bit slow to start but it picked up pace keeping me reading.

CAROLINA MOONSET is the first book I have read by Matt Goldman, but it will not be my last. I found his writing to be amazing, engaging, unique, and totally believable! The twists and turns will have you holding your breath and not being able to put this amazing story down. Hang on tight people! It is one crazy and emotional rollercoaster of a ride.

What an intense story CAROLINA MOONSET is. Once you start reading, you aren’t going to be able to stop. Joey Green, a divorced forty five year old father of two, travels from Chicago, Illinois to Beaufort, South Carolina to help his mother take care of his dad, Marshall, who is seventy five and has recently been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia. Joey’s father hallucinates due to his dementia and these cause alarm for Joey as the hallucinations hint at secrets. Then someone is murdered, and the police have come knocking on the Green’s front door! You aren’t going to believe where this heart pounding story goes!

CAROLINA MOONSET is a real page-turner. I couldn’t put it down until I knew what had happened. Fans of psychological mysteries will enjoy this one. CAROLINA MOONSET is so well written, that even though it jumps back and forth between the present and the past, it is still easy to follow. As Joey investigates to prove his father’s innocence, he learns about several secrets from the past that teach him things he never would have believed. It is a suspenseful tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final pages. I did not want this perfect story to end. I highly recommend CAROLINA MOONSET!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Matt Goldman’s Carolina Moonset is the story of Joey Green who has returned to Beaufort, South Carolina to take care of his sick father. His father’s memory from the past, however, appears to be affecting the present when police arrive at their door. I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this well-written, suspenseful book about how family, memories, and secrets affect lives.

EXCERPT: My mother sat in the passenger seat. She responded to my father's story with a tragic smile. Carol Green had aged in the last six months. Aged fifteen years by the looks of it, her face now drawn and pale. Her gray hair dull. She'd had it cut short. Not cute short but surrender short. She could no longer deal with something as trivial as hair. She'd lost weight. It looked like her bones wanted to push their way out of her skin. From her cheeks, her shoulders, her wrists, and her knees.
She was only seventy-three.
My mother used to sparkle. She'd had the social calendar of a debutante. A champion pickleball player, she and Judy Campbell ran the table at the tournament out at Fripp Island. But age had caught up to her. Passed her even. My sisters had each visited to give her a break. Now it was my turn. My parents had picked me up at Charleston Airport. Such expectation and excitement on the faces of Carol and Marshall Green. It's a thing with relocated retirees. They're eager to show you their life of leisure the way children are eager to show you the fort they built.

ABOUT 'CAROLINA MOONSET': Joey Green has returned to Beaufort, South Carolina, with its palmettos and shrimp boats, to look after his ailing father, who is succumbing to dementia, while his overstressed mother takes a break. Marshall Green’s short-term memory has all but evaporated, but, as if in compensation, his oldest memories are more vivid than ever. His mind keeps slipping backwards in time, retreating into long-ago yesterdays of growing up in Beaufort as a boy.

At first this seems like a blessing of sorts, with the past providing a refuge from a shrinking future, but Joey grows increasingly anxious as his father’s hallucinatory arguments with figures from his youth begin to hint at deadly secrets, scandals, and suspicions long buried and forgotten. Resurfacing from decades past are mysteries that still have the power to shatter lives—and change everything Joey thought he knew.

Especially when a new murder brings the police to his door...

MY THOUGHTS: Carolina Moonset is one of those deceptively gentle books that delivers an unexpected sucker-punch. I was totally captivated and loved every single word in this read. . . .

Marshall Green has Lewy Body Dementia, something I didn't know a great deal about. Lewy body dementia is a progressive dementia that results from protein deposits in nerve cells of brain. It affects movement, thinking skills, mood, memory, and behavior. It can also cause hallucinations, and it is these that worry Joey as his father has conversations with people Joey can't see that hint ay mysteries from the past.

I loved Marshall's family, especially his mom who, despite all her own problems, wants only to see her son settled and happy. Marshall had been a philanthropist of the best kind, opening a free medical clinic to take care of the poor and needy. Joey is somewhat self-deprecating about his own personal worth compared to that of his parents. They have a good support network with kind neighbors and good friends, especially Ruby who used to work for them and her husband Lawrence. And then there's Leela, the neighbor's daughter, divorced, and the target of both her parent's matchmaking scheme's and those of Carol Green.

There's a mystery attached to a pearl handled revolver owned by Marshall that resides in his fishing box. And to a woman called Delphi from Marshall's past.

Carolina Moonset is a deeply moving story about a family, their history and the impact Lewy Body Dementia has upon their ability to keep generations old secrets hidden. I enjoyed every moment of this quiet but impactful read. I will be looking for more from this author.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#CarolinaMoonset #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Matt lives in Minneapolis with his wife, two dogs, and two cats.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of Carolin Moonset by Matt Goldman for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

The book started out beautifully but I was disappointed by the end, Thanks for the review copy. I am sure others will like it more than I did.

What I appreciated about this book is that it is told from the male perspective. So many books about aging parents and family secrets have the main character as a female, so I appreciated the swap. It is a quick read that keeps you engaged.

Author Matt Goldman captivates readers with strong, real characters in Carolina Moonset, based in Beaufort, South Carolina. Goldman captures the daily challenge of caring for someone with memory loss and ties it to a cozy mystery story. Joey Green, a divorced father in his 40s living in Chicago, visits his parents home while his teenaged children are spending spring break with his ex-wife. Joey helps his mom care for his father, Marshall, who has short-term memory issues and related health challenges. When Joey's mom drives to FL for a pickleball tournament, a prominent citizen is murdered in the neighborhood and Marshall becomes a suspect. The novel contains more than a sprinkle of romance when Joey becomes involved with a neighbor who is visiting her parents. Good characters and an original plot make this novel a worthwhile read.

Carolina Moonset is both a fun book to read and a meaningful book about family, aging and illness, Beaufort, Carolina roots, mystery and murder. Joey Green goes to Beaufort to spend time with his parents who moved to his paternal grandparent's house after years in Chicago. His father Marshall, who ran a medical clinic in Chicago for indigent people, has Lewey Body Dementia and dealing with its impact on his short term memory and behavior is exhausting to his caretaker wife. Joey and his sisters are taking turns giving his mother breaks. Along the way, his fathers strong memory of his youth brings forth stories and implications about people from the community, including the Hammond family. Now, Tom Hammond has been murdered and Marshall is implicated. Joey teams up with Leela, daughter of his parents' neighbors, first as a casual date and later as an increasingly intense relationship with potential. The characters, both living and dead are interesting, the plot just twisted enough, with some good red herrings and we care about those involved and want things to be okay for them.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ -- Beautiful cover on this one!

I adored this book. I literally couldn't put it down and read it from cover to cover in one go. The writing was phenomenal. It was atmospheric. Heartbreaking. Sweet. The plot was engaging, and the characters were well written and likable. The only minor issue I had (and why it misses out on 5 stars) is that I felt like the romance between Joey and Leela was a bit "insta". That was just a slight issue, though, and I can not recommend this one enough! 👍🏻👍🏻

**ARC Via NetGalley**

Suspenseful and moving, this book takes place I the South. It's full of intrigue and interest and kept me turning pages.

In Matt Goldman's Carolina Moonset, this captivating thriller speaks volume about families, the ties that binds us to them, and old secrets that lurked through the shadows. It all started for Joey Green, who flew to Beaufort, South Carolina, to visit his mother and his ailing father, Marshall. He's a middle-aged divorced father from Chicago and didn't know what to expect when he visited his father for a week. His father has been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, and during this trip, he had hallucinations from people in the past that were interconnected to Hammond Island, and the rich prominent people who owned that land. Joey also did expect to fall in love with his parents neighbor's only daughter Leela, who's also divorced, and had kids of her own. At first, they experimented with dating and unknown feelings for each other. When Thomas Hammond was shot in the thunderstorm, the Beaufort PD believe that Joey's dad did it due to long-stemmed hatred he had against them in the past. It was up to Joey and Leela to put together the pieces together in Beaufort and learn more of his father's secrets in the past. He had brought them together and temporarily split them apart to solve this puzzle. But when the week ends, they go their separate ways until they can be together again with a sweet ending.

This thriller tugs at your heart and kept me in suspended suspense. I cared for Joey who was there for his father and gave him piece of mind. And I thought that Leela was intriguing with her way of thinking to help him out.The scenic location of Beaufort, South Carolina, was mesmerizing for the setting to take place on the swamp and also in the small town. The dual themes of the story are cherish your loved ones when they need you the most and petty jealousy will find its way to sneak up to you for greed.

This fascinating thriller is wonderful and fascinated to read from start to finish. I had nothing to nitpick on this novel. I rated this book, five out of five stars, because it was well-written and has feature film potential. If you love heart-warming thrillers that deal with an unsolved mystery and family, check out Carolina Moonset today. This is recommended for those who loved great novels that's set in the south and has a little love story on the side.

Joey Green has returned to his hometown, Beaufort, South Carolina to take care of his father who has been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. His mother has been his father's primary caregiver and he has encouraged her to take some time for herself. His father, Marshall Green, has his oldest memories and mainly lives in the past.

Joey's father hallucinates due to his dementia and these cause alarm for Joey as the hallucinations hint at secrets....

Then someone is murdered, and the police have come knocking.

This was such an enjoyable and engrossing novel. This was a breath of fresh air as it is beautifully written and well thought out. I found the story to be captivating as were the relationships in this book. I love putting on my super sleuthing hat and trying to figure things out. I didn't figure things out which was fine by me.

I thought the author did a great job building the story and the mysteries in this book.

This was my first book by this author, and I look forward to reading more of his work.


How about that beautiful cover?!!!

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Forge Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Haunting and beautifully written, Carolina Moonset is set near the marshes and waterfront of coastal Beaufort, SC. Joey Green has returned to his summer home to visit his aging parents and to help his mother with his father who is drifting deeper into dementia. Retired physician Marshall Green has lost most of his short term memory and lives in the past. After his mother leaves for a much needed short vacation, Joey tries to engage his father in conversation and hears parts of a story that happened years before. The disappearance of two friends one long ago summer is told by his father in short bursts and hallucinations. How does this relate to the recent murder of a man only blocks away? Joey begins to understand that the danger from past is still alive in Beaufort.

Carolina Moonset is both mystery and human drama. The effect dementia has on all members of a family is so well illustrated with new everyday routines. Don’t forget to make sure the door is locked. Don’t forget the special lifejacket. New rules for every day. It’s sad and made more so as Joey’s father understands what is happening. The mystery distracts from the depressing progression of illness as does Joey’s new relationship with the neighbors’ daughter. And any location in the South Carolina low country will be called evocative and atmospheric. This 5 star read is no exception.

Thank you to
NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Matt Goldman for this ARC.

This author, Matt Goldman, is a new author to me but when asked to review this novel, I found myself intrigued by the description of the story. I happen to agree with all the positive words. This novel is deeply moving, not only because it deals with dementia but also the ways in which the main character deals with his father’s ailment. It is also suspenseful, riveting, and completely engrossing. 

For me, one of the reasons for the story being so interesting is the use of the father’s ailment to delve into the past to solve the current mystery before the main character, Joey, not only as he struggles with his father’s illness but also the dilemma it brings forth, the possibility that his father could have murdered someone. The secrets, scandals, and long ago suspicions are well handled but also paced perfectly through the novel, to keep readers absorbed in the narrative. I found myself equally invested as the characters in what would happen next and if the murder would be solved. The ending, which ties up tiny subplots including the romantic arch, is perfect. 

In addition to the plot and the pacing is the emotions of the characters. Which among us would not be overwhelmed by a loved one’s illness or scared when dark secrets arise from a past we were unaware of?  How many of us wonder what secrets our parents carry around with them?  And if faced with an unimaginable ailment like dementia or Alzeimer’s worry how we would deal in the face of being lost to our own parent’s or loved ones?  The realism of the character’s actions and emotions, the way the author explores the effects of dementia, not only physically with the character but also the emotional impact, is what makes this novel so moving. 

If you love suspense with a taste of realism, a touch of romance, and an intriguing murder mystery, I highly recommend Carolina Moonset.  It uses a dark disease to unveil an incredible story.

I found this to be more of good story rather than a mystery. Yes, there is a murder to be solved, but I thought the main character’s relationships and interactions with others to be what truly grounded the book and made it more interesting.

Joey Green returns home to Beaufort, SC to visit his parents. He sends his mother off to FL with friends to give her a break from taking care of his father who is suffering from a disease that causes short term memory loss. While she is gone, a man his father despises is murdered. Could his father have snuck out and done it and just not remember? The police believe he could have and Joey’s not 100% sure he didn’t. The only way to protect his father from persecution is to find out who the murderer is. And to do that, he’ll have to dig into the past.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forge Books for gifting me with an advanced copy to read and review.

Joey Green goes from Chicago to Beaufort, SC to visit his ailing father and give his mother a break. His father has Lewy Body Dementia and struggles with short term memory.

What a week it turns out to be! Snippets from Joey's father’s long term memory bring questions about what happened in the past. Then a murder occurs, is it related to events in the past? It's a lot to pack into one week.

This book has it all. A southern low country setting, a spontaneous and unconventional romance, the past intruding into the present, a murder mystery and a surprise resolution to it all.

I love Joey Green's character. It is touching to watch him dealing with his elderly father. I love how he wants to protect his family at all costs.

Romance and murder don't always go together. This one works. It was spontaneous, witty and fun to watch it develop.

Murder mysteries aren't one of my favourite genres. Initially, it was the cover that drew me to this one. It is designated as a “thriller” but I found it more of a cozy mystery. An enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an Advance Readers Copy.

Summary: Joey Green has returned to Beaufort, South Carolina, with its palmettos and shrimp boats, to look after his ailing father, who is succumbing to dementia, while his overstressed mother takes a break. Marshall Green’s short-term memory has all but evaporated, but, as if in compensation, his oldest memories are more vivid than ever. His mind keeps slipping backwards in time, retreating into long-ago yesterdays of growing up in Beaufort as a boy.

At first this seems like a blessing of sorts, with the past providing a refuge from a shrinking future, but Joey grows increasingly anxious as his father’s hallucinatory arguments with figures from his youth begin to hint at deadly secrets, scandals, and suspicions long buried and forgotten. Resurfacing from decades past are mysteries that still have the power to shatter lives—and change everything Joey thought he knew.

Especially when a new murder brings the police to his door...

Review: I enjoyed this book, I love the mystery and suspense, I also loved the character development.

This book was phenomenal!! Extremely well articulated and engaging!! It put me through the emotional ringer.

The suspense is so good. It’s a story of family and secrets. Let me tell you, those secrets were heartbreaking.

Joey Green is visiting his parents so his Mom could get a break from watching his father who’s sick. What a loving family the Green’s were!!

A prominent man in the community is murdered. The police suspect and hound Marshal Green, Joey’s 75 year old, sick Dad!!

How could it be that and aging, suffering from Lewy Body Dementia be a suspect?!!

To know the answer you gotta read this fantastic book!! My first book by Matt Goldman and he’s got a fan in me!!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge books for e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"My parents owned dozens of paintings by local artists, but the one in the foyer was the only one that depicted night. And it’s the only painting I remembered from my childhood. It showed the dark marsh in heavy brushstrokes. A sprawling oak in the foreground framed an expanse of reeds. A tidal creek snaked through the reeds. The tide was out, and the creek’s muddy bottom reflected the moonlight. A clump of more oaks in the distance lay dark under the full moon shining above them. And behind those oaks, the dark shadow of an immense home, no light in the windows except for one on the second floor. The marsh is beautiful during the day, changing colors with the angle of the sun. But it’s eerie at night. Too many secrets hiding in its vastness and in its crevices. The sea comes in and the sea goes out. Only it knows what’s hidden in the marsh."

The name of that painting is Carolina Moonset. It always gave him the creeps. Too bad the artist’s signature is smudged.

Forty-something Joe Green (not mean at all) is visiting Beaufort, South Carolina (lives and works in Chicago) to help mom, Carol, take care of his ailing father. Marshall Green, 75, is a good guy who had passed on having a lucrative medical career to open a free clinic on Chicago’s South Side. When he retired, he returned to his home town. Dad is suffering with Lewy Body Dementia, second most widespread form of dementia, after Alzheimer’s.

"My mother sat down next to me and said, 'It’s like when a person loses their sight, their hearing improves. Except with Dad, he’s lost his short-term memory, and his long-term memory has improved. He tells stories I’ve never heard before.'"

Well, that’s one element. Another is that he sometimes talks to people who are not there, which can be unnerving. One such is long-late friend Trip Patterson, who died very young, under dodgy circumstances. Joey is curious who this guy was and begins looking into some family history.

“'Aw, Joey. You were always a good fisherman. Even when you were tiny you were fascinated by what you couldn’t see below the surface. That’s what fishing is all about. Curiosity and the patience to learn.'”

Fishing of all sorts will be done. Soon after Joe’s arrival a local bigwig is shot dead in the street. Pops did not have a high opinion of the man or his family.

"Those Hammonds are nasty sons a bitches. Every one of ’em. Stole that island from the blacks. When the Union Army came through, they gave black people their own land. Gave ’em a chance. And it worked, too. The people prospered. Until the goddamn Klan took over and redistributed the land.' My father had venom in his voice. 'Redistributed the land with guns and knives and ropes and trees. I wouldn’t live on Hammond Island if you paid me a million dollars. Hope a hurricane wipes it off the face of the earth'.”

Despite his considerable impairments, Marshall is considered a suspect. Particularly when the gun that did the dark deed sure looks like dad’s old revolver. And when Joey looks for his father’s gun, why is it not the usual place? Did Pop pop Thomas Hammond, whether he remembers doing it or not? Faces from the past re-emerge, whether in person or in memory alone. Questions remains, like what ever happened to Roy Hammond, Thomas’s brother, who vanished under mysterious circumstances? What’s the deal with Thomas’s much younger glam-wife, Gail?

As a forty-something, in town sans kids, Joe is prime matchmaking material for his parents’ set. It seems that their next-door neighbors just happen to have a forty-something divorced daughter, Leela, in town for a holiday visit. The senior circuit angles to get them together. And lo and behold, Joey and Leela hit it off remarkably fast.

"I was single in my mid 40’s like Joey, and people in my parents’ generation, including my parents, would often mention single women they knew of. I think some people in that generation are less comfortable with a younger person being single, so they try to play matchmaker. I also wanted Joey to have a partner in his informal investigation—someone in whom he could confide—and adding a romantic element to that felt not only fun but true in that life presents beautiful magic and brutal reality at the same time. And finally, I recently experienced a Joey/Leela like courtship. I met my wife in February of 2018 and we married that same year in October. I wanted to show how a combination of chemistry and life-experience can lead to that kind of relationship in a grounded way" - DAB interview

Joe and Leela team up to see below the surface to what might be swimming in the deeper waters, as they try to land a killer. I found their relationship delightful. And can attest, from personal experience, to the possibility of a quick connection between mid-life divorced/single people. Leads are followed. Murder suspects make their way across the page, along with their theoretical motives. In a book with fishing as an element, there are, of course, red herrings. Bait is employed to good effect. The who and why-dunnit puzzles will keep you casting a line flipping the pages for more.

The story takes place in the present, but there are many references to mid 20th century, when some long-ago crimes are crying out to be solved. At the center of these, the Hammond and Green brothers were young men with diverse world views, and some serious personal conflicts.

In addition to the fun of the mysteries and the investigation, Goldman also offers a look at the racist, classist realities of South Carolina, both the actions that took place in the past and their ripples forward to the present.

GRIPES
The cops are portrayed as soulless dolts, which is common enough in mysteries, but remains a disappointing accession to default settings. There are several mentions of Joey’s sisters, but they manage to remain off screen and out of mind once noted. Why include them at all if they are to serve no role? There are several instances of what seemed trite wisdom being proferred. Here is a sample

"as teenagers, girls grow more complicated and difficult and boys more stoic. That is a generalization. A stereotype. But having been a boy who fit the stereotype, I believe stoicism is a mischaracterization of our behavior. We are not more stoic than girls. We are more ashamed. Of our boy-thoughts and risky deeds, mostly revolving around or inspired by sex or at least the idea of sex. That seemingly unattainable nirvana ignited by blossoming bodies and invisible pheromones. That shame sends us underground. Quiets us. Our vortex of shame is so powerful all our thoughts and deeds get sucked into it, so we share nothing."

another

"A friend once told me women have face-to-face relationships and men have shoulder-to-shoulder relationships. Men do things like watch football and go fishing."

Ok, it is starting to seem like the Gripes piece is getting large. I do not want to give the impression that I disliked this book at all. In fact, I quite enjoyed it. The gripes are merely what kept me from adding that final star.

There is a lot in Carolina Moonset that is lovely, nice bits of craft that reinforced the steady forward movement of the plot with some meaningful imagery. Paintings, for example, stand out. Not just the strong image of the book-title work. Joe’s uncle David has a painting over his desk and there is a framed work in the Hammond residence that offers some food for thought. Even the word painting is used in other contexts to offer a perspective.

So fear not. Carolina Moonset is a fun mystery with an appealing dynamic duo of amateurs slogging through a marsh of information trying to figure out multiple crimes, one now, others back then, without much help, in fact with only interference from the po-po. The addition of historical/cultural payload makes it even richer. If you reel this one in, pretty soon you will be the one who’s been hooked.

"From where I’m sitting, Thomas Hammond’s motto must have been Think Globally, Destroy Locally."

Review posted – June 3, 2022

Publication date – May 31, 2022


I received an EPUB of Carolina Moonset from Forge/Macmillan in return for a fair review, and a lovely mint julep. Thanks, folks. And thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.

For the full review, including links, pleas head over to https://cootsreviews.com/2022/06/03/carolina-moonset-by-matt-goldman/

Loved this family drama/mystery/romance novel that left me wanting to read more about these interesting characters. Joey is visiting his dad, who is struggling with Lewy Body Dementia, in coastal South Carolina. He convinces his mom to get away to play pickle ball for a few days. There begins the first of several mysteries. My heart was captured by his dad, who was sharing puzzling snippets of events from his childhood and having conversations with people who are not there. In the midst of all of this Matt finds himself falling in love with the next door neighbor’s daughter.
Dialogue and descriptions of the characters place the reader in the room as an observer, frequently wanting to give advice to Matt. The writing flows easily and the pacing is pure perfection. The ending was so beautiful
Many many thanks to Matt Goldman, Forge Books, and NetGalley for affording me the pleasure of reading an arc of this 4 1/2 star read, just published on May 31st. I am definitely a fan and hope to read many more books by this author.