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Arlene and Tommy have been trying to start a family, but after a miscarriage, Arlene obtains a job at the local police department to focus on something else. During her downtime, she has been going through a cold case of the murder of the Broderick kids many years earlier. She can’t help but think that if she solves the murder she will also find a new footing in her life.

“The Night The River Wept” dives into the fact that we all have some good and bad inside of us. In this multiple viewpoint novel, every developed character struggles with the line between good and bad, which made this an interesting, yet sometimes frustrating read. I found the main character, in particular, the most frustrating as the reasoning behind the good and the bad seem unfounded and almost bully-ish in a naive yet condescending way. The book struggled with a consistent pace dependent on point of view and I felt that the reveals could have been woven together a little better to prolong the suspense. While I do think one of the best things about this book is the cover, it would be an interesting book club read given the struggles between good and bad.

How much you enjoy this will depend on how you feel about Arlene's voice. She's young, she's mourning a miscarriage, her husband drinks- a lot- and she's gotten herself a job bagging evidence at the police station and now she's determined to solve the murder of three young boys. Frankly she comes across as deeply unhinged in spots (I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have hired her) and in need of mental health assistance but you gotta admire her persistence in seeking justice. This switches between Arlene, the diary of Natalie Wright (the sister of Mitchell, who was the presumed murderer) and the actual killer. The diary tells some of the back story but it was also incongruous (if calmer) as is the voice of the condemned man. I almost gave up on this after the dinner party but I wanted to know the identity of the villain and there are some really bright spots and interesting characters. I was a fan of The Floating Girls-Patrick's debut-but this didn't live up to my expectations. That's me though and others might really enjoy it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Looking forward to Patrick's next one.

I am an outlier once again but this time on the positive side, I enjoyed this book. I loved Lo Patrick’s first book The Floating Girls so when I saw this on NEtgally I jumped at the chance to read it and am I ever glad I did. I love Southern fiction, especially the historical variety. This one takes place in the very early oughts (historical?) but the case being looked at happened in 1983. Most of the timeline is from twenty years ago, but we get journal entries, investigation details, and discussions about what happened back then.

I found the main character, Arlene, a little annoying. She was very immature at times and her thoughts seemed to ramble. The entire book is from her perspective and there is a lot of internal dialogue. I liked this because I felt like I got to know Arlene a little better. The unsolved case gives her something to do while she mourns a lost pregnancy and deals with her husband’s alcoholism.

The crime itself evoked a lot of feelings in me, the death of children is hard on the psyche. Lo Patrick writes beautiful engaging stories and she makes the setting an atmospheric part of it all, whether it be tensions between characters or the temperature I felt like I was there. I was so disturbed by how different people are treated from the other side of the tracks and so was Alrlene. If you’re looking for a haunting mystery, look no further.

I loved the Floating Girls so I was excited for this one but it just did not do it for me. The main character was very odd. I did not understand her at all. She felt much younger than she was; so naive and immature and just said very strange things. While I could appreciate the mystery itself, how was this random woman off the street allowed to work as a detective and open a cold case.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I just struggled with this one and could not get into it. The characters were so unlikeable, it started off okay but it was so slow, and the plot just seemed so disjointed. I wanted to love it, but I just did not.

The Night The River Wept by Lo Patrick is a story of the unsolved mystery in a small town of Georgia.

Arlene is going through a loss and decides to join the police force. But Faber is a town where nothing much happens. To get rid of her boredom, she starts going through old unsolved cases. She comes across unsolved cases of three boys and takes it upon herself to get them justice.

I am not yet sure of what I feel about this book. The premise is extremely interesting, and though I kind of knew what was coming, I was invested in the story. However, the writing itself was a little difficult for me to get into. I just couldn't feel the intensity of the story with the sarcastic humor and Arlene's character portrayal. The reason I am giving 3 stars is due to the fact that I managed to read the book, and some of the story made me feel something.

Thank you, Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley, for this book.

CW: This book has some major triggers.

This is a dark and gritty Southern fiction read with an interesting storyline.

Arlene has lived in this small town in Georgia her whole life. Married to her high school sweetheart Tommy, the couple is dealing with a lot: a miscarriage, Tommy's increasing drinking, and Arlene's post-partum depression to mention a few. Feeling that she has to do something/anything to take her mind off of things, she takes a part-time job at the police department bagging and recording evidence. Since it's a small town with little evidence to process, she spends her extra time browsing through cold case files. One in particular captures her heart - the murder of three young brothers found dead on the riverbank side by side. The prime suspect in the case committed suicide soon afterwards, and the town seemed content to let that be the end of it. Arlene makes it her mission to find out what really happened to the children and make sure they get long denied justice.

Her investigation uncovers long kept secrets and some truly disturbing things. While seeking answers and resolution about the murders, Arlene comes to terms with her life and what she wants out of it.

I liked the storyline though it had some uneven pacing throughout which reduced my rating.

There are a lot of potential triggers in this book, and I urge readers to consider that before reading (miscarriage, child abuse, murder, alcohol abuse).

My thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to access an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given. Publication of this edition is 7/2/24.

The Night the River Wept by Lo Patrick is a very highly recommended small town Southern murder mystery with a very unlikely investigator.

Arlene, 24, is married to her high school sweetheart, Tommy, and longs to be a mother. The two live in Faber, a small town in Georgia, where Tommy, is in commercial real estate, but does well enough that he is often called a real estate tycoon in town. Tommy loves Arlene and wants the best for her but he also has a drinking problem. After a miscarriage she needs to find a way to keep busy so she applies for a job at the police station and is offered a part time position bagging evidence. Since the job only takes about 20 minutes of work a day, Arlene begins to read the old case files.

One case in particular, the murder of three young brothers on Deck River, an area populated by those with little hope, captures her attention. The murder was followed by the suicide of the main suspect, Mitchell Wright. Arlene gets permission to look into the case and soon believes she could solve the case. Tommy is getting on her nerves with his drinking anyway and the cold case becomes an obsession. She sets out to discover the truth with help from Allaina, who was on the police force at that time, and Ronna, the police department's receptionist.

I really enjoyed The Night the River Wept and I realize I'm a bit of an outlier in how much I enjoyed it. It is a beautifully written novel and captures both a unique, charming Southern setting as the characters deal with personal struggles,loss, growth and redemption while uncovering the truth. The narrative unfolds through the point-of-view of Arlene, diary entries written by Mitchell's sister, and the murderer. Arlene is the main, dominant voice.

I appreciated the humorous dialog and observations throughout the novel. The bulk of the novel is full of grim insightful and poignant moments in the narrative, but interspersed are gems that left me laughing several times while reading. Patrick captured the dialect of her characters in the dialogue and I could hear them talking as I read. And the stories... like the daughter who left the lineman she was married to, which disappointed her mother because she is a Glen Campbell fan.

Arlene is certainly a flawed character, but, bless her heart, I like her. She's young and she's blaming herself for her miscarriage. Her dream of being a mother has been shattered and seems unobtainable. Arlene is insecure and searching for an adult role model/friend. It is funny and a bit heartbreaking when she attaches herself to Ronna, a woman who has her own issues, and closely follows her behavior in an attempt to be an adult. This includes bringing leftover meatloaf for lunch. She's also dealing with a husband who's frequently drunk by noon. Looking into the cold case gives her a purpose and confidence in herself.

The novel is populated with unique, memorable characters. Arlene is earnest in her role as detective as she looks into the cold case. The investigation into the murder mystery is serious. The small town never really dug deep and tried to truly solve the case. People kept secrets.Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion

The review will be published on BookBrowse, Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon..

Arlene is a fascinating character and seems very real. She has to face a lot - past and present - and her story is compelling. I enjoyed the small town ethos which added an extra layer of grimness to a plot already full of dark topics.

Thank you @netgalley @bookmarked #partner for the free copy of this eARC!

Set in a small middle of nowhere town in Georgia this story picks up with a high school romance and relationship between Arlene and Tommy. Arlene is looking for something to fulfill her soul and fill her time as she increasingly gets a little frustrated with the changes she’s seeing in her husband Tommy. His drinking is starting to become a problem and she looks for something else. She finds a job working at the police department bagging evidence and since there isn’t a lot to do it leaves her with spare time to poke around in those rooms. She starts to look into a cold case that left three brother laying next to each other on a riverbank nearby. To top it off a suicide followed soon thereafter of the main suspect. Arlene becomes obsessed with this case and with the help of some other small town sleuths she sets out to uncover the truth of what happened.

I say this was written by the same author as The Floating Girls which has been on my TBR for a while so I jumped at the chance to start this one! I thought this was a solid small town cold case whodunnit. The mystery and history behind these poor boys deaths were hard to stomach at times given their background was already so hard! I also enjoyed the fact that Arlene dug into this crime in her spare time. Hey, if the police aren’t going to do it, someone has to! 😅 I did feel at times this story was a little slow with pacing but overall felt like if you are a fan of small town mysteries mixed with local gossip and relationship struggles this book is for you!

The unlikely heroine of the story relentlessly pursues a long-ago cold case until she brings it to resolution meanwhile dealing with marriage and family drama. For a book with several very sad themes (child murders, miscarriage, alcoholism, suicide and child molestation), I thought it was extremely well-written, poignant and quirky.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read this ARC.

As a southern woman from a small town, I think I was able to empathize with Arlene. I cried. I laughed. I read. The dialogue, the descriptions of the characters and surroundings just simply drew me in and put me in the story. The marital relationship between Arlene and Tommy is way to common in my neck of the woods, so this really hit home This novel is intense, disturbing, and chilling as a cold case is reopened about the death of three little boys on the banks of the river.

This was my first novel my Lo Patrick. I did read that a lot of other reviewers liked her first book better, so I am headed there next.

I’m going to go slow with this review as I had to go slow with reading.

I felt it all.

The content of this book touches into so many deep emotions

I cried

( a lot )

A long since buried murder.
So many questions

No Answers

Until now

Arlene is going to get to the bottom of this unsolved murder mystery that has plagued a small town in Georgia.

Honestly, I’m at a loss of words. I didn’t expect this and it was a huge shock . This book easily slid into my number one spot for book of the year

I’ve already reached out to many of my “bookish” friends to encourage them to purchase this book. This is a book that needs to be read by all no matter the preferred genre.

The amount of time and research that went into this book shines on each page . I was always a fan of Lo Patrick, but this book right here exceeds all expectations.

Lo Patrick, has entered the bookish circuit. if you haven’t heard or her just yet, you must . She’s not going anywhere, not if I can help it.

This book surpasses any star rating but it’s an obvious 5 star, plus.

Check out this teaser :

Everybody's got good and bad in them. In the end, it just depends which side wins out.

Arlene has lived in a small town on the edge of nowhere Georgia her whole life. Now married to her long-time high school sweetheart, Tommy, Arlene is itching to start a family and become the mother she always dreamed of being. But that's proving more difficult than she thought, and Arlene is desperate to find something to do to keep her mind off things. And get some distance from her husband, who is increasingly getting on her nerves.

As the summer gives way to a chilly, lonesome fall up in the mountains of northern Georgia, she takes a part-time job bagging evidence at the local police department, which involves about twenty minutes of actual work, and the rest of her shift she reads over old cold cases. One in particular fascinates her: the mysterious deaths of three young brothers murdered on Deck River, followed by the suicide of Mitchell Wright, the prime suspect in the murders.

Arlene becomes obsessed with the case, and with the help of the police department's receptionist and a family friend of the Wrights, she sets out on discovering the truth. She can't help but feel that if she solves the case of the Broderick boys' deaths, she'll find her footing in her young marriage and maybe find what she's been looking for all along.

I did not enjoy this book at all. I actually dnf at about 30%. It was just so slow and uninteresting I didn’t even want to continue.

I absolutely loved Lo Patrick’s first book, so it pains me to give this one such a low rating. Unfortunately, it felt like the two were written by completely different people. This one started off ok. A woman takes a part-time job at the police department and starts investigating a cold case. However, as more characters were introduced, the plot grew stranger and became increasingly disjointed. There was a central mystery involving the deaths of three boys, but this was overshadowed by so much other unnecessary stuff going on in the plot. Much of the characters’ actions seemed haphazard and, at times, silly. There was an attempted twist towards the end, but I found it to be completely far fetched. I feel like this could have used some serious editing. I really hope Patrick’s next book is more like her first.

✰ 2.25 stars ✰

“I started to cry, but it was a frustrated, abrasive kind of crying, and I found the more I got into it, the more it took on a life of its own.”

Probably the most accurate way to describe my overall feelings after I had completed The Night the River Wept - a title so tragically haunting that tragically failed to live up to the tragedy it encapsulated due to writing that sadly did not seem to take itself as seriously as the very subject matter of which it concerned. Lo Patrick's sophomore novel follows twenty-four-year old Arlene as she tries to overcome the grief of her recent miscarriage by immersing herself as an evidence tech at Faber's local police department. It was like they were trying to make excuses for you. I didn’t need the excuses. I needed a distraction.' While unearthing old forgotten cases, her interest is piqued by the mysterious death of the three Broderick brothers - a death that should have shocked the small town, but somehow has been left quietly buried and unresolved for nearly twenty years - until now.

“Let me track these people down. Let me figure it out. I want to crack the case. I really don’t have anything else to do.”

It pains me even more so at how difficult it was to sympathize with the protagonist, Arlene - a young woman who starts her investigation simply to fill in the free time that she has while her real estate tycoon husband, Tommy, indulges himself in alcohol and the simple pleasures of his newly rich life to the point of increasingly antagonizing her with his less than appealing ways and to not feel the shame and hurt of not having a child to her name - a shame that is also wracked with guilt over her own past grievances that she holds herself accountable for. 🙁 It is in that pursuit of busying herself to stave off her boredom that she becomes obsessed with the unsolved murder that captured her attention entirely - driving her to do everything conceivable in order to figure out what really happened. With the need to put some form of closure to a crime that did not resolve in a fitting manner, with the murders' prime suspect - Mitchell Wright, the boyfriend of the boys' older sister - committing suicide two weeks after that painful tragedy. In her dogged attempts to retrace the past and uncover clues from those parties that were privy to the events of that time which happened when she was very much a child herself, does she start to discover parts of her own personality and bring about changes to her own lifestyle - one that might just be the very thing she needed to not feel as remorseful over the loss of her own child. 😢

“Suffocated,” I said to myself. “And suicide. God, what is this country coming to?”

I shook my head in heavy dismay. Surely nothing like this had happened before my generation got the keys to the car.”

Mainly I think my lack of really empathizing with Arlene was how her character was portrayed - a very ambitious dreamer who never seemed to settle on pretty much anything - hopping from one context to the next, which may feel like it is her way of overcoming her own grief by having the chance to save the memory of the boys' existence to feel marginally better about losing her own. 😕 It was a bit uncomfortable to have that much focus of the story featured on her miscarriage - one that wasn't quite mentioned in detail in the synopsis, itself. It was that completely uncaring way in which she presented herself - or I guess, the writing did - at how she acted and communicated - this very self-centered and opinionated manner that made it feel that she held herself above others - 'I was the one who’d started this ball rolling.' 🙄

It bothered me how she demanded attention in a righteous tone that clearly stated that since it was her own interest in finding out the truth behind their deaths, that entitled her to be lead investigator - start up her own detective agency - derive personality traits from the women connected to the crime - it all seemed so random. 'I know they died—they were murdered!” I announced somewhere between a bellow and a shriek.' 🤨 Especially when at the start, it was only about her continuously mentioning her own loss that she felt made her deserving of sympathy - not to mention, her relationship with her husband, Tommy - one that was so plagued with ups and downs - disgust and understanding - yet clearly feeling that there really is no one else she would rather be with. Even as she traced the history, I could not care about her personally - only caring about whether or not the next reveal would lead to some traceable evidence that would finally bring some peace to those boys. 😟

“A moment is nothing more than a recollection in exactly the amount of time it takes it to pass.”

Be that as it may - I have to admit that this read was not an easy one; it has me divided on how can I explain my reasoning for disappointment, when I can even argue with myself that there is a justification for the portrayal of how the characters' behaved and treated one another - simply because it is a reflection of the backward area that they are depicting. Does that make sense? 😮‍💨 How can you fault the writer for writing the characters the way that they were, when they're simply being who they are - coarse and unpleasant to the point where their very actions makes them as unbearable as the way they felt about each other. The tone of the writing did not do justice to the subject; a serious matter that had very unserious writing that felt at times very jarring and disjointed.

Coupled with unlikable characters who didn't generate an iota of sympathy or compassion for what happened to those young boys, nor did it genuinely seem like they cared enough about Arlene to help her - a horrific death brushed away that mirrored the lazy and ineffectual stupor that clung to its residents. 😮‍💨 How do I explain my frustration over what had the potential to be a riveting murder mystery that failed to emanate the full feeling of a truly heartbreaking tragedy that had been buried for twenty years, simply because the denizens of a practically crimeless small town on the edge of nowhere, Georgia' failed to see how tantamount it was not to fully let their souls rest? It was to the point where there were certain questionable writing choices that did nothing to amplify the seriousness of the situation rather was a flagrant disrespect to it, instead. 🙍🏻‍♀️

“People’s tragedies are not for shits and giggles, that’s for sure,” Tommy said with an inappropriate lightness, which he quickly followed up with a belly laugh. “HaHA!”

See, what I mean? 😩 There were other examples that left me stunned and severely disappointed that had the writing been more effective in making it more serious, rather than having it feel like it was a mockery of the situation. Like, I said, it could be just to show how backward-minded this area is - and how the crime is befitting of their nature - but, I just couldn't appreciate it for what it was, considering how it all comes down to trying to bring justice to these boys whose lives were tragically stolen from them. 😔

“This was the kind of place where people kept their valuables in lunch boxes and angry family friends could become cops whenever they wanted.”

The story is told through three distinctive perspectives - Arlene, the diary entries of Mitchell's sister, and the murderer, himself. Getting a first hand account from the murderer's point of view was chilling and morbid; how it lacked any source of feeling or compassion or even remorse for their actions. I have expressed my concerns over how comical the writing was that made it difficult to really get involved with the mystery, which sadly was the most compelling part of the story. I wanted to know what really happened - I wanted to learn the truth about what happened to them. 😥 And it was in the perspective of which I was not expecting to have a surprising twist to it that left me stunned for how it wasn't something that I thought even possible, but oddly enough, it was fitting. And for that, I was glad I did not abandon it, despite how many times I was annoyed at other points. 😒

It was the ending that I started to tear up - that the story truly lives up to its name. 😢 I teared up at the senseless loss of innocence, the betrayal of trust, the vindication that lacked any remorse, the silence that cost so much, the secrets that outweighed the morality of justice, the pain that the characters felt no grief, the idea that this story could have been so much more impactful had it not been riddled by writing that failed to capture how achingly tragic the whole situation was. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 It also showed how sometimes even the right thing can be done by doing wrong - how we tend to overlook what is right in front of us, simply in order for us to cope with the past we wished we could forget. A memory that ceases to be one, once it is brought to light and one that only serves to hurt and harm more, despite how helpful it really could have been.

And yet, my mind argues that it, in fact, is such a perfect depiction of how it is that very mindset that makes it so easy to believe that this is the behavior that would befall them. 🤷🏻‍♀️ How society failed to help those of the poor white trash, simply because of who they were - that nobody cared enough to help them; and that was a saddening if not heartbreaking truth that made me want to weep, and applaud how tragically fitting the title was. For when all was said and done, I just felt so defeated at that realization - that even if justice is served, it did not feel like a fulfilling one. 😞

*Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After reading The Floating Girls by Lo Patrick, I was happy to be given the opportunity to read an arc of The Night the River Wept. It’s set to release on July 2, 2024 by Sourcebooks Landmark. The stories genre is both southern fiction and crime fiction. The storyline centers around Arlene, a young woman who desperately wants to have children, but can’t. She is happily married to Tommy, who is a drunk but yet a very successful real estate tycoon who makes a boatload of money. Arlene, who doesn’t feel she has a purpose, goes to work part-time at the local police station tagging evidence in the basement. While there she starts reading cold case files and becomes interested in solving the murder of 3 young boys that were killed about 20 years prior. This book was a very slow going read for me. Although the mystery held my interest and I was completely surprised by the revelation that there were 2 men involved in the crime, I still thought there was a lot to the story that didn’t add up. The fact that anyone could go to work at the police station and have access to past evidence files I found hard to believe. I did feel that the authors depiction of the local residents fit well with small town life. It showed that there is good in some people and bad in others. And it also showed how residents in small towns tend to stick together and hide or cover up things as a way of protecting each other. I’d like to thank Anna Venckus, Marketing Associate @ Sourcebooks Landmark for the invite to read and NetGalley for the arc. I did enjoy reading this, I must admit I was blindsided by Dan Wright’s involvement, and I think it’s surprises like that that make a mystery both fun and entertaining to read. I’m giving this a 4 star rating and look forward to reading more by Lo Patrick in the future.

I adored the writing in this book. I actually laughed out loud in parts. The writing is just so different. As a Southern woman from a small town, I understood Arlene. A bored housewife. Struggling to start a family. A husband who is less than attentive and a drunk. She gets a job at the police station bagging evidence and reads through the cold cases. She becomes obsessed with one and vows to find the truth.

Definitely 5 stars!

Grieving the loss of her baby at 23 weeks, Arlene needs a distraction. She starts working at the local police department, logging evidence. She then has a new mission, find the truth behind the death of 3 brothers at Deck River. Unfortunately this turned out to be a miss for me. The story sounded so great when I requested but it just fell flat. In a character driven novel, the main character needs to be well developed and someone you want to go along their journey with. They don't have to be a perfect person, but like-able to some degree. Unfortunately I didn't jive with Arlene. The story pacing was slow and I found myself repeatedly not wanting to pick it up. Thank you Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.