Heart of a Runaway Girl

Set in the 1980s, Heart of a Runaway Girl by debut author Trevor Wiltzen is an absolute gem of a novel.

When the small town of Blue River is rocked by the brutal rape and murder of a young 18-year old girl and her black boyfriend is imprisoned for the crime, an unlikely savior rises, in the form of Mabel -  waitress, motel owner and single mother - to fight back against the corruption that permeates the community.

I loved the character of Mabel who was soft-hearted and compassionate to those around her, but fought back with the ferociousness of a Mama Bear when her loved ones were threatened. The supporting characters of Sheriff Dan, Kerry, Consuela and others were also well-written. Though the concept of a waitress-turned-P.I was quite far-fetched, the author managed to keep it believable without going overboard. I also admired the delicate manner in which topics such as racism, drug abuse and domestic abuse were addressed without sounding too preachy.

Overall, I found this to be a quick and engaging read. I am quite excited to know that there is a second book featuring Mabel and can't wait to read it.

A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I so very much enjoyed this debut mystery! Mabel was such a firecracker powerful mama on a mission and this book had just enough mystery to keep you hanging on and wanting more. Mabel is a single mom raising two boys and her niece on her on her own, all while running a diner/motel. Mabel meets a young couple in her diner and ends up in a murder mystery and her instinct in FIRE! I love the family aspect of the book, the small town aspect, how we subtly covered racial injustice but didn't flood the book with it. This book was a solid debut and I absolutely enjoyed every bit of it. The author's website shows that this book is the first of a series and I cannot wait to continue.

A fantastic and easy-to-get-lost-in start of a new mystery series featuring diner/motel owner Mabel Davison.

It’s 1986. The small town of Blue River, Washington is known for the new mines, farmers, the sawmill, racist drug dealers, and Mabel’s Diner. One evening while Mabel is waitressing, she witnesses a young couple having some sort of argument at the back booth.

When the teen girl ends up being brutally murdered later that night, her boyfriend lands himself in jail. Word gets around to Mabel, and the news does not sit right with her. You see, kind-hearted and loving Mabel has a gift. She feels she can read people through their eyes. She is convinced the boyfriend had nothing to do with the murder. What’s worse is that she thinks he’s being pinned for the murder because he’s Black.

In a mountain town full of drug dealers and extremists/racist trash, Mabel knows there is more going on...and she is not going to let it slide. She decides to take matters into her own hands and question the sheriff, look for evidence, and make sure the right thing happens. Unfortunately for Mabel, this puts her and her family in danger. But what people don’t understand about Mabel is that she is not one to give up when it comes to righting wrongs.

I devoured this tale, and Mabel is one of my favorite characters I’ve read in a long time. She’s a tough cookie and an extremely hard worker who provides for her children and niece, and she’s a light to most everyone in the town. Sure, it may be a little far-fetched that this waitress/diner-motel owner turns into an amateur sleuth, but it is highly entertaining nevertheless.

This is not a cozy mystery, but it’s also not too heavy. Debut author Trevor Wiltzen does a phenomenal job of balancing Mabel and her investigative shenanigans (some of them are funny, all of them are pretty clever) and the very real issue of racism, which is obviously still prevalent today.

Mabel tells her young son, “I guess I don’t have the answers, son. I don’t know what it’s like to feel racism. But you’re right about the silence. Silence allows racism to flourish.” Mabel won’t let fear silence her.

She also calls everyone “luv” and likes to tell dirty jokes to the diner patrons. I think the world would benefit greatly if we all had a Mabel in our lives, and her charm is why I’m rating this 4.5 stars, rounded up. Not to mention, it’s just a great story that was hard for me to put down.

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

Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com

"Heart of a Runaway Girl" by Trevor Wiltzen was Small-town Mystery at its best!

Washington State is known for the rainy forests of the Olympic Peninsula, the beauty of Mount Rainier, Puget Sound, Columbia River and then there are apples, tons and tons of apples! In small town Blue River, Washington there are farmers, miners, sawmill operators, white supremacists, skinhead drug dealers and lots and lots of drugs! Hot damn, it's the 1980's!

It's also where hardworking diner and motel owner-operator Mabel Davison lives. Mabel loves waitressing, loves taking care of her customers and serving them an endless cup of the best coffee around! She uses endearments when she speaks to people and she's a toucher, too. She just can't help it, she can't keep her hands to herself! She wants people to know she cares! It's who she is!

Right now she's focused on the young couple sitting in a booth at the back of the diner for the last hour. Talking intently, face-to-face, then moving apart, obviously arguing, voices raised, then quiet. The next day Mabel is told by Sheriff Dan the girl is found at the sawmill brutally murdered and her boyfriend accused of her murder. The boyfriend is Winston who doesn't stand a chance as a black man in this racist town.

Mabel believes Winston is innocent. He has to be! She just knows it because she has a gift. She can read people. All she has to do is look into their eyes. She looked at Winston's eyes and knows he didn't murder this girl. He cared about her, maybe even tried to help her. Mabel knows that staying silent is wrong and helping in some way is the right thing to do. She's lived in Blue River her entire life and she knows there's racism in this small town. She's just not going to stand for anyone being railroaded, targeted because of race.

I grew totally in love with brave and gutsy Mabel in this small-town Mystery. I think of her as a 'Great Big Mama Bear' to her family, her friends and her customers of construction workers, miners, truckers and locals. They love her edgy jokes and they love Mabel like...well, like family!

This book is the first in a new series by this debut author. His writing is creative, fun and - with Mabel as a super-sleuth, somewhat improbable, yes perhaps even impossible, detective - it was entirely entertaining! I can't wait to see what happens in this small town next with 'Mabel Davison, #2'!

I highly recommend this book and rate it 4 1/2 stars, pushing it to 5 stars because, well...because of Mabel!
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Thank you to NetGalley, IBPA and Trevor Wiltzen for an ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Trevor Wiltzen, and the Independent Book Publishers’ Association for providing me with a copy of this novel, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Approached by the author to review his debut novel, I was intrigued with what appeared to be a captivating dust jacket blurb in Heart of a Runaway Girl. Trevor Wiltzen takes readers back to a small Washington town in the 1980s, where drugs and white supremacy are running rampant. When a murder takes place, the easiest person to name becomes the sole suspect, though this does not sit well with Mabel Davison. She’s determined to get to the bottom of what happened and sacrifice it all for an innocent man.

Blue River is nestled in the heart of Washington State, but is by no means tranquil. A hotbed of drugs and racism in 1986, it’s surely nowhere one would want to raise their children. However, Mabel Davison is doing her best as a single parent. Her local diner and motel serve the locals well, allowing Mabel to get a sense of the town’s pulse.

While waitressing one evening, Mabel notices a young couple at a back table; a white girl and her black boyfriend. They appear to be arguing, though Mabel presumes it’s just one of those teenage squabbles and lets them be. When news breaks hours later that young Karen Thompson was found raped and murdered at the local mill, all eyes turn toward her boyfriend, Winston Washington. It seems to make sense that a black man who commit such a heinous act, so he is rounded up by the local sheriff. When a group of local white supremacists learns of the arrest, they try to bring about their own form of justice, stopped only when Mabel gets involved and calls the state police.

Something in her gut tells Mabel that Winston is innocent, though she has no concrete proof. She pushes ahead to learn as much as she can about both Karen and Winston, while dodging the pressure of others to let the wheels of justice turn. Mabel begins asking the tough questions and starts investigating on her own, only to discover a potential list of suspects that no one wants to name.

While she is able to convince Winston’s attorney not to accept the guilt that his client is professing to put things to sleep, Mabel knows that she is entering dangerous territory. She unearths much of the local drug trade and offends many men in positions of power, all to help Winston. This could surely have dire results, but Mabel Davison is nothing if not compassionate.

Juggling her work, her home life, and the constant threats that come with asking too many questions, Mabel finds that she may be the only one who really seeks to advocate for Winston’s innocence, while also shining a light on the real killer who treated Karen Thompson so poorly. Mabel’s prepared to sacrifice it all and she may have that chance, if she makes a single wrong move!

While this may be Trevor Wiltzen’s debut novel, it sure doesn’t read like it. There is depth and an addictive plot that will keep the reader hooked as they try to push through to see who the real killer is in what is being called the first in a new series.

Mabel Davison comes across as a woman who has such a big heart and is willing to help anyone in need. Known to many around town, she seeks to ensure that everyone is heard and that truth sees the light of day, even if it is not always what people want to hear. A single mother, she has her own demons from the past, but is doing all that she can to raise two boys and a niece. Sheer determination to do what is right makes her the best amateur investigator, not taking herself too seriously while not dismissing the importance of the mission at hand.

Wiltzen provides a handful of strong characters who help make the novel as alluring as it is. Coming from many walks of life, these men and women add flavour to an already intriguing story and help depict Washington State in the mid-80s effectively. I found myself wanting to know more about many who grace the pages of this book, making the fact that there may be a series in the works all the more exciting.

The premise of the book may sound a little odd—local waitress seeks to become private investigator to help a patron—but it works! Wiltzen develops his story and characters in such a way that the story flows well and keeps the rewarded guessing. With short chapters, the reader is propelled to keep reading (as I did) well into the evening to discover the truth that Blue River residents do not want known. The writing is strong, the ideas clear, and the narrative crisp, making this the perfect debut to captivate the attention of the curious reader. I’ve already signed up to receive more information about future publications and I suspect others will follow suit once they get their hands on this one!

Kudos, Mr. Wiltzen, for this wonderful introduction to your work. Glad to see a fellow Albertan out there making a name for himself. I cannot wait to see what else you have in store for Mabel and your fans!

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I always give an unbiased and honest reviews of books I have read.

I have loved three women in my life. First was my high school girlfriend in the 1950s. Second is my wife to whom I have been happily married since 1967. The third is MABEL DAVISON! Who is Mabel you ask? She is the 40-something year old heroine of a new mystery series by new author TREVOR WILTZEN of Edmonton, Alberta in Canada.

The series begins with HEART OF A RUNAWAY GIRL that takes place September to November in 1986 in the town of Blue River in the state of Washington (on the north Pacific coast of the United States for non-American readers).

Mabel owns, and acts as a waitress/housekeeper at times, a diner and a motel in Blue River. The town is located about 90 minutes from Tacoma in the foothills. It is a town controlled by Karl Larson, a ruthless drug dealer and overall really bad guy. You do not want to upset his business dealings, or him personally. Mabel does both. The town is also a hotbed of White Supremacy and racial tensions are palpable.

One night a young couple are sitting in Mabel’s diner having dinner. One is a 17 or 18-year-old white girl. The other is a young African-American male who is slightly older. Mabel believes that they are in love but are having a disagreement of some sort. The next day Sheriff Dan comes to the diner and tells Mabel that the girl has been found brutally murdered in the local wood mill. The young man has been arrested and charged with the crime. Mabel cannot believe that the young man, Winston Washington killed and raped Karen Thompson, the young woman. Dan tells her that the State Police are handling the case but that Larson has some influence over the “Staties”. She decides to do her own investigating.

On Mabel’s team are her two preteen age sons and her orphaned 17-year-old niece. Mabel’s husband Bill is not living with his family but makes a cameo appearance just when Mabel needs some support. Lavi (“Lion”) Arronson is Winston’s jaded Public Defender lawyer under whom Mabel lights a fire. Several town folk also assist her.
In opposition to Mabel are Larson and his number two in command Frank Hudgens. Frank has two sons who are “friends” of Mabel’s ten-year-old son Hector. They are trying to lead him into a criminal career with themselves.

Winston denies his guilt to Sheriff Dan, his lawyer, the “Staties” and most importantly, to Mabel. He claims to have seen Karen get into a black pickup truck at the diner after their dinner on the night she was killed. Using her people skills and her town friends, Mabel discovers five or six possible actual killers. She turns over her evidence to Lavi. He advises Mabel to get a Private Investigators license so that her material can become admissible evidence. It also enables Lavi to hire her at $300 per week. Larson and Hudgens threaten Mabel’s life.

Welcome to my world of terrific mystery writers TREVOR WILTZEN. If you like mysteries, this book is for you. Mabel is a terrific character as are her many friends, her family and her formidable antagonists. I await the sequel with great anticipation. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

GO! BUY! READ!