Isolation

Isolated: A Faye Longchamp Mystery By Mary Anna Evans Poisoned Pen Press August 2015

Review by Cynthia Chow

Faye Longchamp-Mantooth is digging holes. This shouldn't be too surprising, considering that Faye is an archeologist fascinated with her own family's history on Florida's Joyeuse Island. Faye, though, is also digging to escape. A recent miscarriage has driven her away from her husband and her son, and even her adopted daughter isn’t being allowed to share in their mourning.

Joe Wolf Mantooth is at a complete loss at how to comfort his wife, as Faye has always been the pillar of strength in their relationship. With Faye escaping from the house every morning and returning late every night, caring for their young son has fallen on Joe’s shoulders. This would not be so problematic had Joe not prematurely invited his estranged father to visit in order to meet his new grandchild. Now, Joe's patience is being tested by Sylvester "Sly" Mantooth flirtations with the local ladies and a neediness that has made him become a motormouthed pest.

The last thing the Mantooths need in their lives is yet another tragedy, but unfortunately it arrives in the shooting death Liz Colton, whose Liz's Bar and Grill had become a refuge for the Mantooth men. Sheriff Ken Rainey declares the crime as a failed robbery attempt, and Faye doesn’t have the strength to question it. She is already preoccupied with the assertions of Oscar Croft, a recent arrival who believes that proof of his ancestor's mistreatment can be found on Joyeuse Island.

In this ninth Faye Longchamp mystery, readers meet an entirely different Faye. Overwhelmed by her emotions and driven by voices condemning her with guilt, Faye is attempting to drown herself in work. Joe is similarly unable to cope, and this man of few words knows even fewer that could help his wife. Through all of this bleakness, the spark that revives them all comes from an unexpected source, and the threat to Faye's proud ancestry brings her back to life. Evans creates an initial atmosphere of suffocation on the Island, but what is truly astounding is how she also brings in levity with her witty writing and sardonic characters. The brittle Faye introduced in this mystery is not an easy one to like, so the true surprise is how the author succeeds in making her sympathetic as Faye drags herself out of her black hole. Chapters of diaries from Cally Stanton, Faye's great-great-grandmother, enhance the novel with fascinating historical details. Readers will be fully invested in the Longchamp and Mantooth families, and the joy comes in following their investigations to save their home and family history.

This was my first Faye Longchamp mystery but it will not be my last. Faye has been trying to overcome her recent family loss by spending all day digging hole after hole to pass the time so that she will not have to interact with her family. Her father in law has recently come to stay with them and her husband and his father are trying to mend their relationship when they discover the body of their friend in the water. Meanwhile Faye discovers an environmental hazard on her island she inherited from her grandmother and is afraid her family will lose their home due to the cost of the clean up. There is an ancestor of a soldier trying to find out what happened to him after he disappeared after the war and his family thinks that her great-grandmother kept him prisoner and eventually killed him. Another of the family's friends experiences a break-in that is not so random and then there is the fire that threatens to take all in it's path. I could not put this book down. It had history, crime, and family resolution all in one book.