All Good People Here
Thriller/Mystery
Bantam (August 16, 2022)
In the propulsive debut novel from the host of the #1 true crime podcast Crime Junkie, a journalist uncovers her hometown’s dark secrets when she becomes obsessed with the unsolved murder of her childhood neighbor—and the disappearance of another girl twenty years later. You can’t ever know for sure what happens behind closed doors. Everyone from Wakarusa, Indiana, remembers the infamous case of January Jacobs, who was discovered in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Margot Davies was six at the time, the same age as January—and they were next-door neighbors. In the twenty years since, Margot has grown up, moved away, and become a big-city journalist. But she’s always been haunted by the feeling that it could’ve been her. And the worst part is, January’s killer has never been brought to justice. When Margot returns home to help care for her uncle after he is diagnosed with early-onset dementia, she feels like she’s walked into a time capsule. Wakarusa is exactly how she remembers—genial, stifled, secretive. Then news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who’s gone missing under circumstances eerily similar to January’s. With all the old feelings rushing back, Margot vows to find Natalie and to solve January’s murder once and for all. But the police, Natalie’s family, the townspeople—they all seem to be hiding something. And the deeper Margot digs into Natalie’s disappearance, the more resistance she encounters, and the colder January’s case feels. Could January’s killer still be out there? Is it the same person who took Natalie? And what will it cost to finally discover what truly happened that night twenty years ago? Twisty, chilling, and intense, All Good People Here is a searing tale that asks: What are your neighbors capable of when they think no one is watching?
An entertaining read from the #1 true-crime podcast host!
I am what you’d call a “crime junkie”. It’s not as morbid as it sounds. It’s just what fans of Ashley Flowers’ pod cast are called. Crime Junkie, her true-crime podcast, is ranked #1 in the world for 2022 of the true-crime genre. It is for this reason that I heard about her debut book, All Good People Here. I was drawn to how twisty this story could be because it was written by a person with such an extensive database of crime in her brain. All Good People Here was surprising, and a strong mystery for people into thrillers.
All Good People here follows a reporter named Margot who is slightly obsessed with a cold-case murder in her hometown. Her childhood friend and neighbor was murdered in 1994. Now as an adult, Margot is a new report and can’t help but link the unsolved case of her friend with every other murdered girl in the vicinity of her town. Many people believed it to be the mother, some believe it was an obsessed stalker who broke into the home. It’s left to Margot to find out what really happened.
I have one small but important complaint, and it’s not a spoiler.
My singular issue with All Good People Here is the ending. I won’t tell readers what is precisely wrong for me with the ending, just that it’s very abrupt. We have closure, but not quite. Will there be another book? I don’t think so, but I feel like we need one. The story ends, and jumps to an epilogue. The epilogue is very important and I’m grateful that it was included; however, there’s a gap. I need that gap filled. It’s like an itch I can’t scratch. A lot of reviewers have a similar response to the ending so I’m wondering if Ashley will address that in an interview or podcast. Who knows, maybe she enjoys leaving us all with questions. Overall, this was an easy and entertaining read.
Kristin lives in the PNW with her husband, and three kids. She loves to read YA fiction, fantasy, and romance. She enjoys a few side-hustles, including creating bookreels/booktoks for authors. The only shows she watches are re-runs, and if she’s not reading a book, she’s listening to one.
