3⭐
Middletide by Sarah Crouch
Genre ~ Mystery thriller
Publication date ~ June 11, 2024
Page Count ~ 288


Middletide by Sarah Crouch was a book that found its way into my hands over a few nights as I settled into bed. I quickly invested in the characters and found the author did a great job of bringing each to life for me. This included our tertiary characters like Elijah's dad and best friend Chitto, Nakita's dad and also Jeremy, who I was happy to see mature throughout the story. What I didn't like is our protagonist, Elijah, is hellbent on reuniting with Nakita even when she turns him away. No, means no, eh? And her dad supporting this (actually relating it to a biblical story!) is absolutely cringeworthy IMO. I found the timeline transitions to be a bit confusing at times and had to reorient myself to where I landed in the story.

All in all, a great debut from this poetic author and a book I'm glad I spent time with.
Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the EARC. All opinions expressed are authentically my own.

📖 Book Review 📖

🎧📱 "Middletide" by Sarah Crouch

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
published June 11, 2024

This debut mystery novel was not at all what I expected and I am so glad I didn’t judge a book by its cover 😉 Beautifully written, full of descriptions of the land, and just a lot of details made me feel like I was in the book.

One peaceful Saturday morning, in the small, Puget Sound town of Point Orchards, two fisherman find the lifeless body of Dr. Erin Landry. She is hanging from a tree on the property of Elijah Leith, way back in the woods, only accessible in high tide if you came by water.

Sheriff Jim Godbout’s initial investigation points to an obvious suicide, but several clues just don’t line up. When foul play is suspected, and he discovers that the circumstances of the doctor’s death are eerily similar to the plot in Elijah Leith’s own novel, the small town Sheriff has a lot on his plate.

At 33 Elijah returns to his childhood home where is father has recently passed away. Elijah went away to college and had big city dreams of being a great writer but after his novel wasn’t successful he has lost hope. He decides to restore the cabin and hopefully rekindle his relationship with Nakita, the beautiful girl from the nearby reservation whom he loved and left after high school.

Point Orchards begins to doubt Elijah’s innocence- just too many things point to him as the murderer. He must fight against whoever is framing him for a reason he doesn’t even know.

Book 3 of July 2024
Thank you to @netgalley for this eARC

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“Middletide” is an atmospheric, moody summer slow burn debut that focuses on the complexities of a small town and the events following a suspicious death of their beloved doctor.

Read if you like: books with lots of layers, subtext, twists and details.

What I enjoyed: Elijah and Nakitas relationship was the most interesting part of this book for me, I found myself invested in these characters and the relationship development between them.

What I didn’t love: The summary to the crime and mystery component of the book felt a little too convenient and rushed for me. There was evidence that didn’t make sense combined with the stereotypical “dumb ignorant small town cops” angle.

Overall the book had an eery, poetic sense to the writing style that I enjoyed. If this is your vibe then definitely give it a try.

Thank you to Atria Books, Sarah Crouch and Netgalley for the EARC.

Publish date: available now

Some will describe this as a slow burn but it was mostly slow with very little burn. The first 30% was really setting up the characters. Maybe I’m just easily confused, but I found there was a steep learning curve to getting all the timelines straight - it jumped forward and backwards, years or months or days, which took some time to get the hang of.

The highlight for me was concept. Kudos to Sarah Crouch on this, a great debut!

TLDL: Good concept, poor execution.

Ironically, I’d give Sarah Crouch the same criticism that the MC Elijah Leith received.

I’ll leave you with a few wise words of wisdom from my favourite character, Chitto:
“‘Nobody cares’… It frees you up to fail. At the end of the day, no one gives a rip.“

3⭐️

The atmosphere was written very well, and I felt loss and grief throughout. It was a little slow moving, and harder to be invested in. I do want to read more from Sarah, and thought this was a great first novel!

This story explores themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships with depth and sensitivity. A captivating read that keeps you engaged until the very end.
I could not stop reading!

Middletide is one of those books that has so many layers to pull through, but there’s also parts that just feel like they are missing too.

This was a good book. I was engaged the whole time and I really connected on a deep level with the characters. This being a debut novel, I am intensely excited to see what Sarah Crouch comes out with next because I’ll definitely give her another read.

What this book is not: it’s not a thriller. There are some dark parts, like opening with a woman hanging from a tree - that’s horrific, but after that this book slowly unpeels each layer carefully.

What worked for me was the relationship between Elijah and Nakita. I was rooting for them from the beginning and their story was what initially pulled me in and kept me going.

What didn’t work for me: the twist. Not because of the twist, I was fine with the twist, but the first half of the book we had two very smart cops for a small town that quickly turned into idiots and the “evidence” in the case just didn’t add up. It felt like the author wasn’t invested in the mystery of the story and threw it in there to classify this at a literary thriller rather than just focusing on the important characters. Just my opinion.

I feel like if there is going to be a trial, the author needed at least 100 more pages to build that up and at less than 300 pages, it just wasn’t there. I’m trying not to get spoilery, but I had so many nitpicky issues with how the murder storyline played out when I was far more interested in the characters and the rest of the story.

All in all though, this book was beautifully written and I enjoyed it.

I do also want to say that I’m uncomfortable with what appears to be a white woman writing about the Pacific Northwest Indigenous People, but fictionalizing a tribe. I can see where that may have been her idea to try and be respectful of tribal people, but that is kind of erasure in itself when working with a tribal person on her book could have been something she did. It doesn’t sit right with me and I’ll have a really hard time recommending this book for that.

This is an interesting mystery. The blurb says for fans of “Crawdads,” and yeah. It is a pretty similar type read and similar story. A small town “whodunit” from the POV of both the police and the accused. Didn’t suspect the ending, a few red herring and good dialogue. Believable, interesting, flawed characters. I will remember this story.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

Some books force you to slow down and settle into a story. Some books make you consider if the ending is really what is important or if how we got there is even better.

Middletide is one of those stories.

From page one I was interested and captivated by this small town story. It felt immediately character driven and that's the kind of story that always appeals to me. It's something that helps me to get inside characters heads and dwell there for a moment. This story isn't demanding and it's often more quiet. From the lonely, lost boy who's dreams have turned sour, to the lost love of his life...I was attached to their story and how it would unfold.

This story was soft and sweet but always slightly on edge due to the looming murder mystery overtaking the town. I loved how the author added Native American elements, and that it made me want to go pick up stories from indigenous authors. I loved that we got some Christian elements that were often subtle but some of the more impactful lessons in the book.

The last 25% had me on edge wondering how our characters would endure, and I loved some of the fun twists that I found unpredictable. If you're willing to be still and immerse yourself in a slower paced but poignant story with characters that feel rooted in reality...Middletide is a debut that I would highly recommend.

The audio was fantastic! Highly enjoyed it and feel like it only increased my enjoyment of the story.

One niche I adore is books that revolve around other books, weaving them seamlessly into the plot. The concept of a murder that eerily mirrors the protagonist's debut novel, which was a commercial failure, interested me immediately.

The characters in this story are not entirely likable, which adds to their realism and complexity. Their deep histories and personal struggles make them human and relatable, contributing to the book's success as a piece of literary fiction. Crouch's ability to develop such intricate characters is commendable. The varied types of love portrayed in this book are profound and integral to the storyline.

Elijah - Seeking a fresh start, Elijah abandons everything to move to the big city and pursue a career as a novelist. We see Elijah dealing with an internal wound from losing his mother and subsequently his father, who succumbed to grief and alcoholism. However, his novel flops. His journey to restore his father's old cabin becomes a source of pride and passion, symbolizing his own personal growth. As the land flourishes, so does Elijah, transforming into a new man.

Nakita - is left behind by Elijah but chooses to move on with an incredible man whom she eventually loses. She must navigate her own grief and rediscover herself, figuring out the direction she wants her life to take. I loved Nakita's internal thoughts and actions because she was the most mature person in the entire story.

Erin - is the hot blonde small-town doctor who carries a significant amount of trauma. She seems to be in a shock state the entire book so she has a really meh personality.

Overall, I think this is a great mesh for literary fiction lovers, and crime/mystery lovers. I would highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC.

This book was so atmospheric, I felt like I was there the entire time. While it was described as a thriller, it read more literary to me. It did not take away my enjoyment and my concern for the characters. Really good.

Such a great debut for this author! The character development throughout this storyline kept me guessing in this murder mystery wrapped around a great love story. So well done!

Middletide is the debut novel that had so much inside the 288 pages- murder mystery, long-lost loves, courtroom drama, indigenous people, small town vibe.
The main character, Elijah Leith, is a writer. His first novel was called Middletide, which tells the story of a homicide. Unfortunately, his writing career doesn’t take off and he is forced to return to his home town after being away for many years. He would like to reconnect with his high school sweetheart, Nakita. He lives in his father's rundown cabin, living off the land. He has little money and resources. He reconnects with his father's best friend, Chitto and begins to work in his garage, fixing up cars.
Shortly after Elijah’s return, a young doctor is found hanged in the nearby woods close to Elijah’s cabin. All signs point to his involvement. As he tries to declare his innocence, he tries to find the killer of the doctor.

This is a slow burn murder mystery. It is a very character driven novel with plenty of twists and turns. The authors descriptions of the landscapes make you want to explore the Pacific Northwest with all of its beauty. The story was written in multiple time lines, which can be confusing at times.
Many thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published on June 11, 2024.

I wasnt a huge fan of this book, but maybe others will like it. I wasnt a fan of the plot or the characters . The writing style was okay .

I enjoyed this book. It was slow to start but I liked where it went. I did really like the twist and how the court scenes played out. I can see why people make not like as it was a little unbelievable but I read books for fun and not everything I read needs to be believable.

One thing I didn't love was that she made up an Indigenous group for this story where we really didn't need this as part of the story which is why I took a star off my rating.

All in all I enjoyed this.

When Elijah left Point Orchard to follow his dream of becoming an author, he left his first love, Nakita, behind with a promise. A promise he did not keep. Years later feeling like a failure, Elijah returns to Point Orchard. He’s got a lot to work through, his father has died and he’s living off the land. When he sees Nakita again, he wants nothing more than to reconnect, but she’s going through her own trauma and a new relationship is not in the cards. When a beautiful young doctor, Erin, asks Elijah out, he quickly agrees, but his heart isn’t in it. Erin, too, has her fair share of heartbreaks, but when she turns up dead, Elijah is the one and only suspect. It looks fairly cut and dried, but Elijah continually professes his innocence. Nakita and her father are leaving no stone unturned looking for the one piece of evidence that will save him, but is it out there? This was a rock solid debut by Crouch. The courtroom drama was mindful of the old Perry Mason cases, with fleshed out believable characters. Cleverly and cleanly written (proving language adds nothing to a well written story), the pages turned quickly from the first until the very last. Well done! Looking forward to much more from this talented new voice! Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Elijah and Nakita are teenage sweethearts. Elijah will soon be leaving for college. He hopes in his future to write a best-selling novel. They make a promise to meet in four years at their favorite spot. Elijah never appears. Fifteen years later Elijah returns to Point Orchards. In the interim, Nakita marries. Soon after Elijah returns, the town doctor’s body is found on his property. What first appears as a suicide is soon declared a murder. All the evidence points to Elijah, who is arrested for murder. What follows is the trial and the impact it has on the lives of Nakita and Elijah. A gentle page turner. Middletide by Sarah Crouch is a good murder mystery.

I liked this book much better after I finished it. If that makes any sense...I think the PNW setting she created was fantastic, and it felt very real. There were parts of it I was frustrated by and couldn't see why she wrote it that way until I finished the book-then I understood it. It's quite a twisty story, but it took a long time to get started. 3.75 stars.

The cover for Middletide is just gorgeous and drew me into wanting to immerse myself in the Pacific Northwest, The premise of the story is interesting... the town doctor is found dead, hanging from a tree at a lake accessible by boat only at high tide. Was it suicide or murder to look like suicide? A whodunnit and locked-nature sort of mystery was right up my alley.

But, and it is a big BUT, the execution of the story did not live up to its gorgeous cover. As they say, the Devil is in the details, and there were so many details that were just plain inaccurate. MDs do not write dissertations, they do not take a town doctor job right out of med school (there's something called residency training that is required for board certification and insurance contracting and all those fun/boring medical necessities), and they haven't drawn labs for many decades, Routine medical labs are not entered into DNA databases, and DNA testing requires a consent process (unless of course you are already involved within the legal system). A small-town auto repair shop is not going to touch the transmission of a European car. Fix a flat tire, sure, but foreign cars are a whole different ballgame. The courtroom scenes were a hot mess. The whole "trigger" for the main event just wasn't believable. Unfortunately, these and many other inconsistencies took away the enjoyment of the story and led to plot holes. I also felt that including a made-up Native American tribe was unnecessary. Native American culture or beliefs didn't play any role in the story. The MC's love interest could easily have been anyone and certainly could have been from a local tribal nation. The characters did not feel real people to be, almost like televisions caricatures of what someone thinks a person would be like without really knowing anything about them.

Overall, the actual idea for the story was great and writing capable. The storytelling details and the character development needed more work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

The premise is what first drew me to "Middletide" — a small-town mystery revolving around the death of the beloved local doctor. Plus, beautiful cover. The insular atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest town is what shines here. The rest of the novel didn't work for me.
Every character felt flat with their development primarily based on the author "telling" me, instead of showing. It almost felt like two conflicting and separate plot lines that suddenly converged about 60% through the story — as though the author decided to shove two different stories into one regardless of the consequences. Because of this, certain components of the story never become relevant to the plot and others feel incredibly farfetched and ridiculous. The motive behind Erin's death made no logical sense to me.
Also, very confused as to why the author decided to create a fictional Native American tribe instead of doing their research and incorporating one that already exists? The author's note doesn't justify the decision either given each tribal nation cited is vastly different with their own unique cultures and values. Attempting to combine them all in this vague surface-level amalgamation is ignorant and, frankly, disrespectful.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.