Very enjoyable book! Very similar to Where The Crawdads Sing.. so if you read that book and enjoyed it.. this one will be right up your alley too! Beautifully written, vivid imagery.. and intense plot. Highly recommend!

The Marsh Queen by Virginia Hartman delves into family drama and the roots that live in your hometown even after you leave. Loni is a bird artist at the Smithsonian in DC when she is suddenly called back home to the wetlands of Florida to care for her mother. As she's cleaning through her mother's house and life she comes across a note from a woman she doesn't recognize saying that she has more to reveal about Boyd's death. Boyd is her father who died years prior in the Marsh. Against her better judgement she is drawn into the case and starts to explore more about her life and what really happened.

Overall, this was an enjoyable story with lush descriptions of the setting and characters. I found it moved slower than I wanted it to and I found parts of it to be predictable. Overall, it was an enjoyable read that took me to a setting that was different than most that I read.

The Marsh Queen is out now! Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books for the ARC.

Loni Murrow comes back home to help her younger brother with their mother who is sliding further into dementia. While Loni's relationship with her mother had always been fraught with tension, her brother was the apple of her mom's eye. Loni was Daddy's little girl but he drowned in a mysterious accident when she was 12. Now Loni, who has a job she loves at the Smithsonian in DC, is back in the Florida swamp and someone doesn't want her there. She wonders who that is and why. The story takes us through complicated relationships - new friends, old friends, and various other odd people from Loni's past. Of course there is the sexy canoe guy who pique's her interest as well. I enjoyed the story and learned a lot about the Florida swamp. There was mystery and intrigue but also relationships and how we all need people who support us no matter what beside us.
Definitely 4 stars. Good job, Virginia Hartman! Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I am going to start out by saying FIVE STARS. No need to read my entire long winded post to know this book is a front runner for book of the year.

There were numerous times as I began reading that I had to stop and double check that this really was a debut novel. Virginia Hartman, what took you so long? The Marsh Queen took my breath away and I am hopeful that this is just the beginning of a longstanding writing career for Hartman.

The amount of time, research and knowledge that went into this book glitters across every page. Typically, when I read a book I want to do it quickly, get to the end, and find out what happened. With The Marsh Queen, I almost wanted to go slow just to be able to absorb every word and make the book last that much longer.

The Marsh Queen, is so much more than your average thriller. This was a devastating story circulating around family drama with a side of romance. (Don't ask me how Hartman did it, but she did)

Now, I wont lie to you. I am sure a lot of you are thinking and judging this book just as I did. You are thinking "this is going to be rip off on Where the Crawdads Sing", BUT do not like this title fool you, it is beyond anything you have ever read before and the only thing that could be slightly similar is the atmosphere.

So without accidentally dropping a spoiler I am just going to encourage you to buy The Marsh Queen. I promise you, its a decision you will not regret.

Virginia Hartman has set the bar high for herself with her debut novel, "The Marsh Queen," a beautifully descriptive novel in the Florida marshlands. It moves as gracefully and as mysterious as the swamps and the birds that inhabit them.

Loni, a bird artist at the Smithsonian, is called back home when her mom is diagnosed with dementia and put in a care facility. She only has a few weeks off to help her brother get things organized, but Loni gets caught up in the mystery of her dad's long-ago death. Some believe he committed suicide or drowned, while others feel there's much more to the story.

As Loni finds peace in the swamps where she sketches birds, someone is determined to scare her off and send her back to Washington -- one way or another. Someone who doesn't want her to know the truth.

I don't want to give up any spoilers, so I'll just say this was a fascinating read. The descriptions of birds grew a bit old, but the characters made up for any lags. I look forward to the author's next novel.

“The swamp is the only place I can get any clarity.” This book reminded me of Where the Crawdads Sing in so many ways. While I say that, I don't want to take anything away from this story and this author. This book's strengths lie in the lyrical style in which it's written, the attention to detail and the creation of its atmospheric little town. I easily found myself immersed in another life as a natural historian. Just like with Crawdads, I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the marshes and the birds and how the flashbacks brought Loni's father to life. If you like an atmospheric slow burn, a Floridian wild adventure, or a complicated family mystery, then The Marsh Queen is for you! I enjoyed so much about this book, including the characters, the story itself and its development, the well-researched information, as well as the ending. This was a very enjoyable read, and I can easily give it five stars. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Marsh Queen.

Great read! Kept me guessing and on the edge. The twist were great and the characters were solid. Loved the swampy atmosphere and overall a great read!

Holy twisty, turny, informative and INTRIGUING! I absolutely was enveloped in this book and finding out what happened to Boyd. Loni is the quintessential "take me as far away from home" character but it suited her. The story reminded me of "Where the Crawdads Sing" without feeling like a knock-off and may have surpassed that as my favorite novel. It is always a pleasure to read a debut novel that truly transports you to story.

Virginia Hartman’s debut novel, “The Marsh Queen” is a treasure trove of birds, swamps, moss, and herbs. Add to that family secrets, stalkers, and murderous bad guys and the result is an interesting read.

Smithsonian bird artist Loni Murrow returns to her Florida pan-handle hometown after her mother suffers a fall and starts displaying signs of dementia. Her relationship with her mother has always been tense. In addition, returning home dredges up painful memories of Loni’s father’s suicide when Loni was 12 years old.

Officially recorded as an accident, Loni keeps the facts of her father’s death from her brother, who was an infant when Boyd died. But as she is going through her mother’s things, she finds a cryptic note from Henrietta saying it’s time that they talk about what really happened to Boyd. Loni begins searching for this Henrietta, whom everyone in town denies knowing.

As Loni spends week after week in Florida, she takes long canoe trips through the swamp looking for models for her free-lance work. Hartman’s precise and beautiful detail put the reader in the quiet swamp, the only sounds the oar’s dip in the water and the occasional bird calling its mate.

Although the mystery of Henrietta and her note drive the plot, the narrative does drag a bit. At least 100 pages could have been cut from the book’s 384. After the third canoe trip through the swamp, we have the idea. And Loni has lots of breakfasts and lunches with her brother where she learns a little bit more to aid her search for the truth about her dad. Several of these conversations could have been combined.

However, readers looking for beautiful prose, well-drawn characters, and intriguing mystery will enjoy “The Marsh Queen.”

A family drama story with some added suspense and mystery. Loni is living her best life in Washington, D.C. when she is called home. To place she is not eager to return to, too many memories and past traumas. She discovers that her father’s death wasn’t as it seems, This is truly a well crafted story about family, childhood traumas and what people will do for their family.

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this book, I received a copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Although this book was a dnf for me, I gave it three stars. I don't think the story was bad it was just too much on the topic of birds for me to really connect. The writing was fine and I may have enjoyed it if I could have made myself continue.

Loni works as an artist at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, She is originally from Florida and is asked to return home when her mother becomes ill. While going through her mother's things she finds a note about her dad's drowning when Loni was just a child. What really happened to her father? This is a story about family, secrets, and mystery. I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to more books by this debut author. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Lots of details about Florida, birds, marshlands but the story dragged for me and I lost interest in the story.

There are many threads to the story: Loni’s mother’s dementia, secrets about her father, strained town dynamics. Loni isn’t sure who to trust and who she can’t.

There are beautifully written passages but the slow pace of the story and the random romance thrown in, kind of threw me. I expected a little better pacing, and higher stakes.

I think if you liked Crawdads (I didn’t), you will like this.

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝘼𝙍𝙎𝙃 𝙌𝙐𝙀𝙀𝙉 by debut author Virginia Hartman has the unfortunate distinction of being compared to 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘥𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨 by Delia Owens. Those are some big shoes to fill! This is the story of Loni, originally from the Florida wetlands, but for many years safely ensconced as a bird artist at the Smithsonian. Loni has been called back home because her mother is falling deeper and deeper into dementia and Loni's younger brother has decided to move her into assisted living. He needs help.⁣
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Loni’s father died a mysterious death when she was young and her relationship with mom was never quite the same after that, so returning to Florida is not what she wants. The story explores family relationships, the mystery surrounding her father’s death, and a related mystery Loni finds among her mother’s things. Despite the layers of “suspense” embedded in the story, the tension level never really ramped up. Nothing was unbelievable, but for me, it wasn’t all that compelling, either. I had no trouble getting through this book, but it also wasn’t close to the experience of reading 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘥𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨. Had the blurb not suggested that it would be, I might have had different expectations. I may have actually liked 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 for what it was instead of being disappointed in what it wasn't. ⁣
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Thanks to @gallerybooks for an ARC of #TheMarshQueen which publishes on 9/6.

The Marsh Queen
by: Virginia Hartman
Gallery Books
Release date: 9/6/2022
General Fiction (Adult)

This is a powerful debut novel by Virginia Hartman. Main character Loni works as a bird artist at the Smithsonian. She returns to her roots in the marshes of Florida to help her mother recover from an accident. There, she must face her past while sorting out the truth.

This book about family mystery, with romance included, is fully atmospheric in setting and captivating in plot. I, along with other readers, will look forward to more books by Hartman after being introduced to her writing in this impressive debut.

Thank you to Net Galley and Gallery Books for the advance reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review,

Thank you to Netgalley, Gallery Books, and Ms. Hartman for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I am the one person on earth who hasn’t read Where the Crawdads Sing although this book is being heavily marketed as an “if you like THAT, you’ll LOVE this” story. I can’t speak to whether it’s true, but I will say, if it IS, I guess I’ll have to go read Crawdads after all.

Loni Murrow is a nature artist, specializing in birds, at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.. She is called home to Tenetkee Florida to attend to her aging mother, who due to recent dementia episodes has been put in a care facility by Loni’s younger brother. Loni feels she has “escaped” Tenetkee and is not happy to be summoned back. Her father died by suicide in the swamp when Loni was a young child and she clearly has a large amount of unresolved issues tied to this, along with a fractured relationship with her mother.

Planning to stay one or two weeks, Loni ends up staying the entirety of her 8-week FMLA allotment. She increasingly suspects that her father’s death wasn’t due to suicide after all, but murder, and is flailing about in a closed-off small town trying to find clues or answers. I’ve been to small towns in North Florida and Loni isn’t kidding when she describes the suspicion of (or outright hostility to) outsiders, especially from the North.

Paired with the atmospheric, vaguely threatening small-town setting are loving descriptions of the Florida swamps and marshes. Loni is a bird person, obviously, but she appreciates the nature around her and sees beauty in all its facets. It’s a very relatable aspect of her otherwise sort of odd-duck (no pun intended) personality.

I wasn’t sure how the author was going to get Loni to uncover a decades-old secret, let alone find proof thereof, but the conclusion was well-put-together. There is even a nascent romance between Loni and a local, which isn’t all that necessary to the story but does provide some necessary warmth to Loni’s character, which otherwise tends somewhat towards aloofness and awkwardness. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to the many customers at work who STILL ask what to read next after Crawdads.

3.5 stars

Loni Mae Murrow returns to her hometown in the Florida wetlands when she learns of her mother’s poor health. Now that her mother is residing in assisted living, Loni takes it upon herself to sort through her mother’s belongings. In doing so, she discovers a cryptic note that suggests her father’s death may not have been a suicide. Her search for the truth leads her down a dangerous path, and in the midst of all of this, she is trying to reconnect with her mother and reconcile with her brother. But is the truth worth knowing when it puts the ones you love in danger?

I was on the fence with this book because I found the story often dragged on between each scene. I loved the plot and the mystery behind Loni’s father’s death, and I think it had a lot of potential, but the slower parts of the story made it difficult to keep my attention. I also didn’t like that the synopsis compares this book to Where the Crawdad’s Sing because, though the settings were somewhat similar, the writing and emotion behind these stories were nothing alike.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing a copy of this book to review.*

I really wanted to love this book, but instead I liked it a lot and at the end I was not sure how I would rate it. This debut novel by Virginia Hartman has a good story, a slowly plodding plot, a hint of romance and great descriptive passages of the setting and characters. Thus, I would give it a 3.5, rounded up to a 4 because of the detailed personification of the marsh. Loni Murrow is a bird artist at the Smithsonian in D.C. when she is called home to help her mother who is suffering from dementia. Loni takes leave from her job and heads to the marsh of northern Florida where she encounters her brother Phil, his demanding and uppity wife and their two children. From the beginning it was obvious that the family relationships are strained, particularly between Loni and her mother who has few moments of total lucidity. While cleaning out her mother’s house, Loni discovers a note that seems to indicate that her father’s death may not have been the suicide that everyone thought. Thus enters the mystery of the story. Loni is warned and threatened to leave Boyd’s death in the past where it belongs and there are a lot of clues, many not so subtle, about what really happened to him. I enjoyed the story but I really liked the characterizations that were so vivid, making each character, even the secondary ones, come alive in my imagination. The mystery itself was easy enough to figure out, but the remarkable descriptions of the scenery were what made the book for me. It was like the book was a canvas and the author was painting a portrait of a beloved place that she wanted to share with others. Since much of the book dragged, I would not say that this is a thriller but rather a slow burning suspense, with the atmosphere of the setting being much more important than solving the mystery of what happened to Boyd Murrow. At times, I felt as though I had to make myself complete the novel so that I could see how the family issues were resolved and how Loni’s story ended. I would, nevertheless, recommend this book to those who read and enjoyed “Where the Crawdads Sing” and who enjoy a book with setting as the main character and people who are flawed and doing the best they can to just get through life.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Gallery Books via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This book took too long to jump off… The beginning, while it kept my interest, was slow.

Loni has escaped her small town life in the marshlands of Florida after spending a childhood following one basic rule: don’t talk about dad, a man she idolized, who died under strange circumstances when she was a kid.

Now, she is putting in for leave time from her Smithsonian job to go back home at the behest of her brother because their mom is not doing well. Upon her arrival back home, she is immediately reminded of why she left. One thing is different though… and she tries to figure out what really happened to her father.

This book was great in theory, but I just didn’t find myself on the same page with what was going on. Towards the second half of the book, I found myself enjoying it more and more, though.

This outstanding debut novel is distinguished by the quality of the writing and the author's insight into troubled family relationship. Loni has a successful career as a bird artist at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, and the last place she wants to be is back at her childhood home in swampy coastal Florida with her difficult mother. But when her brother summons her to help their mother through a crisis, Loni reluctantly goes home. Once there, she is pulled back into old dramas, including the questionable death of her father and the responsibility she has always felt for it. This book is not a fast-paced mystery or thriller, but is packed with intrigue and delivers a satisfying conclusion.