I loved The Marsh Queen. Virginia Hartman's descriptions of the swamps and the wildlife are wonderful. Pair nature with a heartfelt story and you receive a gift to read. I highly recommend it.

Being from Florida added to the joy of reading this book. Ms. Hartman paints a beautiful picture of the Florida swamps that few people see. She also paints a picture of a more evil side of Florida - drug trafficking. Seen through the eyes of a young woman who wants only to draw the birds of the swamp and find the truth about her father's death, Loni is drawn into her hometown and its characters. After living and working in D.C for a number of years, she is treated as an intruder with a number of enemies who want her to return to DC. Determined not to run again, she enlists her brother and a guy from a canoe rental to help her in both of her quests.

A book of twists and turns and the beauty Florida as to offer.

“The Marsh Queen” is a debut novel by Virginia Hartman. What I enjoyed about this book was the writing style - descriptive and detailed (regarding plants, birds, and scenery), along with an interesting idea to the book (mystery, family ties, and uncovering secrets). While I can see why some would say the pacing was too slow, I only found it in small areas - mainly where a lot of descriptive writing occurred and not much to advance the plot, but I was fine with the pacing overall. While I cannot say that I connected with the majority of characters in this book, I did like the main female character. A lovely debut novel and I look forward to reading a future book by Ms. Hartman.

What an impressive debut novel by Virginia Hartman!

The Marsh Queen is a relaxing, sometimes poignant story that delivers a heartfelt message of the complexities of families, along with the emotional toll that festering secrets can take.

Hartman's detail and description of the setting are phenomenal and her character portrayal of the protagonist left me rooting for her happiness and success. There were times when I wanted a little bit more, but overall, this was beautifully written.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Hartman's novel tells the story of childhood dreams, love lost, and painful revelations. The heroine of this novel returns from the sophistication of her job as a bird artist for the Smithsonian to her childhood home in the marshes of Florida. This is an entertaining and sometimes poignant read of the joy of reconnection and the struggle to face the painful realities of the past.

This was a captivating novel about a girl who leaves her home, and memories, behind and moves to DC. She is forced to return to her hometown and “the marsh” to care for her mother. While home, memories from her past and questions about her father’s death arise. This book kept me guessing and sucked me in from the very beginning. I enjoyed the characters and the setting of this novel! This is a good book for fans of family dramas and mysteries!

The Marsh Queen has been drawing comparisons to Where the Crawdads Sing for a while now, and while they certainly could exist in the same universe, The Marsh Queen stands on its own with an unforgettable story. A mystery to unravel, strained relationships both past and present, and a looming deadline make this book difficult to put down. You’ll especially love this book if you are a FL preservationist or art lover!

Interesting but not really my cup of tea. Well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. With her mother struggling and being put into assisting living and her brother needing help the main character takes some family leave to go home and help organize the house and support her family. While at home she finds out that her recent fathers death might not have been the accident it was billed to be. The deeper she goes into the story she finds that she might not like the answers she finds but she can’t stop now can she? I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I love this book! Great characters, great plot and all the bird info was interesting/charming. This was a welcome relief after starting so many books that I just can’t get into right now. Easy on the brain, full of magic.

Written with southern society's norms in mind this was an intermittently interesting book. The ending is a shocked but clues are subtly there and even though 'kayak guy' is not up to her speed seemingly, I am glad she's giving herself the peace to enjoy
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc

In The Marsh Queen, Virginia Hartman brings us into the world of the Florida swamps and marshes and a family in crisis. At the surface it appears that the Murrow family is facing a common struggle- an aging parent who can no longer care for herself. When her mother has a fall and breaks her wrist, Loni Mae must come back to her small hometime in FL from her job at The Smithsonian. Loni Mae and her brother and sister in law do not see eye to eye and disagree on the best course of action. As the story evolves, however, you learn that there is much more in this family's past. There are secrets, half truths, and mysteries. In order for the family to move forward they must first confront the past.
Loni Mae uncovers the mystery of her father's death slowly. She learns who she can really trust and believe, and in the end the family realizes that they are strongest when they work together. The characters are well developed and the environment of the wetlands is as much a part of the story as the people. The setting is beautifully described and makes the story come alive.
The Marsh Queen is a page turner of a mystery, but also a family drama, a love story, and most of all a survival story. It does not disappoint. I am excited to read more by Virginia Hartman.

What a fantastic debut! The Marsh Queen centers around the Murrow family who ate full of misunderstandings, miscommunication, and secrets. Loni Mae Murrow who finds herself taking a leave of absence from her job and heads back to her hometown to help her brother with her aging mother. So many things from Loni Mae’s childhood
had always been swept under the rug, but now it seems things are coming to light!

Oh, my! From the very first page I was completely hooked! I found the storyline so original and unique! Virginia Hartman does a wonderful job with the character development, I feel like I know these characters in real life! I found their journey so intrigued—truly unputdownable! The Marsh Queen is a 5 star novel that will be one of my top recommendations for summer 2022 must reads! I am so excited to see what Virginia Hartman come out with next!

I'm sure lots of people will compare this book to Where the Crawdads Sing, but they are really not that similar, although I loved this book just as much. The Marsh Queen is a little lighter with more of a mystery at its heart. Loni Mae is a memorable character who you will fall in love with and want the best for. This is an excellent debut novel and I'm looking forward to reading more from Virginia Hartman.

First-time author Virginia Hartman has given readers a very good mystery. Well researched and written with a literary flair, “The Marsh Queen” is a who-did-what-to-whom that also explores the meanings of honesty and truth, loyalty and abandonment, and love and vengeance. It’s also a story told with wit and an eye for the beauties of the natural world.

Loni Mae Murrow is a brilliant painter of birds for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. It is her dream job, one she doesn’t want to leave and would hate to lose. But when her younger brother calls to say their mother is struggling with the early stages of dementia, Loni feels duty-bound to take a leave of absence and return to Tenetkee, a small Florida town abutting wild and beautiful marshlands.

Loni hates being home, hates all the memories: the death of her father, apparently by accident or suicide, while patrolling the marshes as a Fish and Game officer; her mother’s constant disapproval that continues to this day for reasons Loni still can’t fathom; her own abandonment of family to go off to college and then to D.C. And she hates that her brother and his brassy wife are leasing out the family home and disposing of its contents, all without consulting her. And she hates that now she has to cull through boxes and boxes of her mother’s stuff.

For their part, the people of Tenetkee are none too happy Loni’s returned. In fact, lots of them think she should take herself back to DC and don’t mind saying so right to her face. But Loni can’t do that. In her mother's suitcase, she finds a letter that raises new questions about her father’s death. Now, she needs to discover the truth of what really happened—a truth that just might get her and the people she most cares about killed.

Admittedly, there are many mysteries with similar plotlines: i.e., the prodigal child returning home to solve the mystery of a life-altering loss. But author Hartman makes hers fresh and engaging with a well-drawn main character, Loni, who we enjoy rooting for, plus a supporting cast of small-town characters: some honest and open-hearted; others frightened and/or mean-spirited and/or downright dangerous.

Some have criticized the novel’s pace as being too slow. I did not find it so. It takes time for true-to-life characters and relationships to develop. Hartman was willing to take that time. The result? Believable, compelling characters and relationships.

Hartman also leavens her story with wonderful detail about pursuits important to various characters: working at the National Museum of Natural History, painting wild birds, canoeing through the marshlands, their flora and fauna, their below-the-surface structure, diving their underwater caves, ornithology, the growing and uses of various herbs, to mention a few. There’s also a pretty good romance—one we want to work but are never sure if it will. Plus, there’s Loni’s dry wit which had me chuckling, or at least smiling, on more than a few occasions. And for those who love plot twists, there are surprises along the way.

All in all, a five-star read.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. The foregoing is my independent opinion.

3 stars
Not at all what I expected. I do feel there is a audience for this book. It is not for me. Thanks for the ARC of this book.

This is a book about family, overcoming family issues, and forgiveness. It is also a good mystery story.

What worked for me with this book: Beautiful setting and nature life, interesting and well executed plot, and some good twists.

What didn’t work for me with this book: Slow pacing and underdeveloped characters and relationships.

I had trouble connecting with any of the characters. However, the plot itself kept me engaged while I was reading and I really enjoyed the story that was told.

A captivating read. This was touching, and rather heartbreaking at times.
This book had a little bit of everything that I love: a likeable main character, murder mystery, atmosphere, revenge and drama.
This book is beautifully written and the dialogue felt so real and I loved the vivid descriptions.
The writing grabbed me from literally the first page and kept me entranced.
Our characters were very well developed and I couldn't help but enjoy and feel for them all honestly. The characters were so easy to connect to!
The Marsh Queen was such a fabulous, intriguing story in so many ways, with wonderful writing and characters, stunning in every way.
This is going to be a favorite for many readers.... It was mine!

I was patiently waiting for this approval from Gallery Books. It has been on my radar ever since I read the description of NetGalley.
So I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to read and review this title.
It did not disappoint either.

Thank You Gallery Books and NetGalley for this advanced eARC!
And Virginia Hartman you outdid yourself here!
I will post and tag closer to pub date to all my platforms!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were extremely unique and fleshed out. It was easy to keep everyone separate in my head. I also enjoyed the pacing of the story. Something plot related was almost always happening, and if it wasn't plot related, then it was being used to flesh out the characters and give them more personality.

Loni Mae Murrow, 36, has worked for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History as a bird artist for nine years.

Her world is shaken when she gets a call from her 12-years-younger brother Phil in Tenetkee, Florida - her former hometown. Phil tells Loni that their mom Ruth has taken a fall, and has also been having memory issues. Phil and his wife Tammy have relocated Ruth to St. Agnes Home for physical and occupational therapy, and possibly a permanent move. Phil and Tammy need Loni’s help to go through Ruth’s things so they can rent out the house to help pay for her treatment.

Loni is able to get family leave that allows her to take off for up to eight weeks. The leave is granted without pay, but Loni is able to get piece work as a liaison at the nearby the Tallahassee Science Museum while she is in Florida. As it happens, Loni’s BFF from childhood, Estelle, is a curator there, and can indeed send some work Loni’s way.

While Loni is going through Ruth’s things, she finds a note from a woman named “Henrietta” who wrote: “Dear Ruth, There are some things I have to tell you about Boyd’s death.”

Boyd is Loni’s father who died at the age of 37 in an improbable accident out on the swamp in his boat. He worked at Fish & Game, and knew the swamp like the back of his hand. Loni has always believed the rumor that her dad committed suicide, because he wouldn’t have had an “accident” - and she wants to protect Phil from finding out.

Phil hardly knew his dad, and Loni never would broach the subject. For her, “talking about my dad is like touching an abscess. Fresh pain, long after the wound should have scabbed and mended.” But now they must, since Phil is trying to get the state to put up some money for Ruth’s care based on Boyd’s death while on the job. Loni knows that if Boyd committed suicide, there would be no compensation money.

Loni starts asking questions around town, and before long she is getting anonymous death threats.

Loni also begins taking a canoe out frequently to help her sketch some of the birds Estelle has requested pictures of. She fights an attraction to Adlai Brinkert, who runs the rental place, but doesn’t know whom she can trust.

Frank Chappelle, her dad’s former boss, finally tells Loni that her dad was involved in doing drug deals. Loni doesn’t think that can be right, and in any event, with the danger to her in the town, there is clearly still something that someone doesn’t want Loni to know.

Evaluation: The pace of this story is quite slow. While it may seem as if Boyd’s fate and the threats to Loni should take center stage, there is really much more time devoted to the flora and fauna of the swamp, the changing colors, and beauty of, the birds there, and the frustrations of trying to capture their essence by drawings on a page.

Lonnie likes her orderly life working at the Smithsonian Natural History museum in DC. So when her brother calls her home to North Florida to help with their mother, she feels nothing but dread. Once back in her hometown, old questions resurface about her father's death. Maybe it wasn't an accident or suicide. As she starts asking questions, she finds people are frightened to tell her anything and what she does learn does not coincide with what she was told about his death. Lonnie struggles to trust those she should and trust those she shouldn't. Once I started this book, I couldn't put it down. Definitely perfect those those yearning for a book like Where the Crawdad's Sing.