This is a who-dun-it of the highest caliber. Three tales, a detective, a librarian, and a victim, interweaving and coming together with final clarity. Each character was distinct, well-rounded, sympathetic, and yes, at times, annoyingly flawed. I was totally caught up in their progress. And the plot had enough twists and turns that it kept me engaged as I tried to figure things out along with them. A wonderfully dark and delicious mystery!

This was not my cup of tea. I went in a bit blind and couldn't get into it. This might find its audience, but I felt the characters and storyline really lacking in something. This one didn't put me at the edge of my seat like most thrillers do.

I am always thrilled when I get the chance to read a mystery that focuses on a woman's voice with women as protagonists. The prose sings a bit more. The experience focuses on elements that are more critical as opposed to flashy distractions (substitutes for, well).

So the things I liked most about this were the female character leads. They’re resourceful and powerful in their own ways. I also liked that it focused on a cold case. I don’t really get that in the police procedurals I read. Now onto what I didn’t like… it all around got hard to keep track of - a lot of names, a lot of similar names, a lot of names for just one person - it was, well, a lot. And there was a lot of focus put on Laura’s breast cancer journey. Now I am in no way diminishing her struggles or her story, but it just isn’t was I want the main focus of a thriller to be. It would make for a great fiction story, just doesn’t fit that well into a mystery. But overall it was intriguing enough and a solid story.

The Night Flowers was very interesting as it changed from multiple POVs, including someone who living between the living and the dead. I really enjoyed the fact that this was a paranormal mystery story with strong female protagonists. If you are a fan of true crime, then I would definitely recommend this!

I am a sucker for thrillers about librarians, and this one did not disappoint. Rich character work and compelling mystery storytelling combine here to lovely affect.

I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. The downfall was that I requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before the book was archived. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it!

Really liked this book! Great debut from Sara Herchenroether and will look forward to more books from this author. I hope the author puts these two characters in a series of books. I would like to see how these characters grow and work together to solve more cold cases. I listened to this on audio and the narrators did a great job. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Set in the early aughts, this is the story of three people found in New Mexico's Gila forest. A young woman and two children. Flash forward three decades, and a librarian battling breast cancer (very real details provided that give some startling insight into this courageous battle) and a weary detective pair up to find the truth of what happened so long ago. Very well written. I look forward to the author's next entry.

This was a really interesting concept and I enjoyed the uniqueness! You don’t often find that with thrillers these days so big kudos to the author!

This book wasn’t for me. I found it predictable, and that left me wanting to skim. The writing wasn’t bad, it’s just not for me. Not to say it’s not for you, so if interested in the blurb, you should give it a shot!

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC!

Colleen Chi-Girl 4**** Review
GR bookshelves: 2023, crime-mysteries, netgalley, women-centered, new-mexico, ancestry-genealogy, contemporary, thrillers, us-no-amer

This novel by Sara Herchenroether is her debut novel and it's a good one! There are two timelines in this story, one in the early 1980's in New Mexico, involving a murdered mother and 2 children, and the second POV is current times, featuring 2 strong female leads who team together to solve this cold case.

One protagonist, Laura, is a recent breast cancer patient and there is a lot of focus in this novel on her illness, treatment, and struggles. However, Laura, a librarian, is on a mission to solve this case. I can only imagine after going through what she has medically, it must be a great outlet to work on and try to solve a meaningful, horrible crime. She is also an experienced genealogist who helps solve the case because of her ancestry experience. I really enjoyed this part of the story bc I love genealogy and librarians! LOL. I don't think I've ever met a librarian I didn't like and admire.

The other woman of this dynamic duo, Jean Martinez, is a long time, experienced detective, whose family longs for her to finally retire, but Jean is still determined to solve cold cases and this particular case with 3 murders, begs her to solve it.

I love the police procedural parts, the genealogical parts, and the combined brain power of these strong women. We get a ghostly POV from beyond the grave that may appeal to some of you. Unusual for sure!

It's fast and an easy read and so worth it.
My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher, TinHouse, for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Night Flowers by Sara Herchenroether in exchange for an honest review. This was a beautiful and haunting debut novel about amazing, strong women who came together to solve a mystery. It was wonderfully written and the characters were easy to empathize with.

A crime is committed in the desert and discovered years after the fact. Thirty years after that, two women are separately drawn to the case. I enjoyed the look at people's fascinations with cold cases, both from the cop and the layman's perspective. I personally enjoy a good god perspective as well and liked reading those passages. Overall this is a story about women and how their choices affect them both in this life and the next.

It's hard to come up with one thing that turned me off to this story as it was an overall feeling that kicked in not far from the first chapter. Maybe it wasn't enough of a lead in when trying to understand what was going on or maybe it was my mood, who knows, but it just didn't sit well with me. I had to force myself to keep reading even though I really wanted the killer caught and punished. Once I got to about 60% of the book, I skipped to near the end and should have skimmed instead.

I love the dedication of those who pursued the cold case in spite of having issues of their own. It was the story itself that was unsettling.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book wasn’t my cup of tea. I found it overly predictable and kind of boring. I like thrillers that keep me on the edge of my seat, and guessing until the very end, and this did not deliver. I found the characters kind of annoying and under developed.

Interesting story about three bodies that are discovered in barrels in New Mexico several years ago and the murderer hadn’t been caught or bodies identified. Told from Jean the cold case police investigator and Laura a librarian/genealogist who is going through breast cancer perspectives with some Italicized portions from the dead woman’s view. Flows well. Enjoyed the story, kept me engaged and wanting to know more and what had happened to these three females.

Thanks to Netgalley and W.M Norton & Company for my electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Night Flowers is definitely a fast, good read. For me I had a hard time putting it down I wanted to, no needed to know how this was all going to play out. Was not disappointed! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this and leave my opinion.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Tinhouse for the ARC of this book.

Great book on cold cases and strong females. I highly recommend this book. It had me thinking about it for days!

4 stars!

I LOVED this book, thrilling, twisty, dark at times but bright at others. Three strong POV from women that all come together for a thrilling ending that I was on the edge of my seat to finish! The author did a great job talking about cancer and relating it to death without dying but also shining light on the pain it brings to all who suffer from a diagnosis! This book got me out of my reading slump and I can’t recommend this enough! Great job Sara!!!