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"From the small towns of Appalachia they came, the young men who joined the fight for liberty in World War II. Now they are elderly, and some of them--like Harmon Strayer, father of prosecutor Bell Elkins's former law school classmate--suffer from Alzheimer's. When Harmon dies in an Alzheimer's care facility from what appear to be natural causes, Bell confronts a mystery that brims with questions about memory, grief and the lethal cost of burying the past. During a winter of record snow and show more cold, Bell and the people of Acker's Gap, West Virginia, face isolation and hardship--and the threat from a killer who preys upon the old and the sick and the helpless"-- show lessTags
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Why would anyone want to murder a person already dying with Alzheimer's in a nursing home? It turns out there can be multiple reasons, which Julia Keller explores in her 2016 novel “Sorrow Road.”
Belfa Elkins is the prosecuting attorney in Acker's Gap, W. Va., as well as the protagonist in several of Keller's novels. When Darlene Strayer, a former classmate, asks Bell to investigate the death of her father at Thornapple Terrace, she does not take it seriously, even though there have been other recent deaths there. Isn't that what people do in nursing homes?
But then Darlene dies that very night while driving intoxicated on a snowy road. Again, there is nothing suspicious, although Darlene had not been drinking when Bell had left the show more bar with her.
Meanwhile Carla, Bell's 21-year-old daughter, returns home with a clearly serious problem she is not willing to disclose. Carla gets a temporary job, which takes her to, of all places, Thornapple Terrace.
Little by little developments happen and deductions are made until Bell discovers the truth about what really happened to Darlene's father. It turns out it all began way back in 1938. As for Carla, she uncovers another murder plot, after finally confessing her own crime.
“Sorrow Road” turns out to be a very fine mystery, full of interesting characters, occasional suspense and a conclusion a reader can believe. One wonders why Julia Keller is not a bigger name in the mystery field. show less
Belfa Elkins is the prosecuting attorney in Acker's Gap, W. Va., as well as the protagonist in several of Keller's novels. When Darlene Strayer, a former classmate, asks Bell to investigate the death of her father at Thornapple Terrace, she does not take it seriously, even though there have been other recent deaths there. Isn't that what people do in nursing homes?
But then Darlene dies that very night while driving intoxicated on a snowy road. Again, there is nothing suspicious, although Darlene had not been drinking when Bell had left the show more bar with her.
Meanwhile Carla, Bell's 21-year-old daughter, returns home with a clearly serious problem she is not willing to disclose. Carla gets a temporary job, which takes her to, of all places, Thornapple Terrace.
Little by little developments happen and deductions are made until Bell discovers the truth about what really happened to Darlene's father. It turns out it all began way back in 1938. As for Carla, she uncovers another murder plot, after finally confessing her own crime.
“Sorrow Road” turns out to be a very fine mystery, full of interesting characters, occasional suspense and a conclusion a reader can believe. One wonders why Julia Keller is not a bigger name in the mystery field. show less
Bell Elkins is back in this 5th book about her and the town of Acker's Gap, WV. I enjoyed this one almost as much as I enjoyed the first 4 books. I did get a little bogged down in this one for a while, but sticking with the story was well worth it. Some of what happened didn't come clear until the very end. I liked the last paragraph couple of pages and thought it summed up the story well.
This was a fairly good book. It is like coming in the theater in the middle of the movie. The background and relationships of the central characters were explained as the story progressed.
The author won a Pulitzer prize so she knows how to write. The plot was a trifle weak but OK.
The author won a Pulitzer prize so she knows how to write. The plot was a trifle weak but OK.
Review to follow.
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Author Information
26+ Works 2,010 Members
Julia Keller was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and has taught at Ohio State and Princeton universities.
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Sorrow Road
- Epigraph
- The thin grey line of a road, winding across the plain and up and down hills, was the fixed materialization of human longing, and of the human notion that it is better to be in one place than another.
- Isak Dinese... (show all)n - Dedication
- To John L. Phillips, U.S. Air Force veteran, and to Elaine H. Phillips, the light of many lives.
- First words
- She lurched across the table at the old man, grabbing the collar of his shirt and coming up with a crinkled fistful of blue polyester.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)They lived and they loved and they dreamed and, for as long as they were able, they remembered.
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- Members
- 116
- Popularity
- 279,749
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.63)
- Languages
- English, Italian
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 12
- ASINs
- 1
