The Hanging Tree

The Hanging Tree

Bryan Gruley

3 out of 5


I've heard it said that it takes a lifetime to write your first book and you only have six months to get the next one out, well that is exactly how this one felt after reading the first Starvation Lake mystery, waiting expectantly for this one and being disappointed in the slow pace and real lack of plot.

Once again, the readers are back in Starvation Lake with Gus Carpenter, editor of the Pine County Pilot, where Gracie McBride, the girl who left town eighteen years earlier is found hanging from the said "Hanging Tree". The tree where the local teens hang shoes to mark memorable moments in their lives.

The problem is that Gus does not see Gracie's death as a suicide. Things just are not adding up and with the influence of a new resident in town and Gracie's less than savory past, the new owners of the newspaper want to quickly put Gracie's death to rest and move on with the new goings on in town.

Overall, the book was flat to me. No real climatic moment, nothing that really stood out as a redemption moment that would have made the whole reading experience worthwhile.

Very much a disappointment after I had so enjoyed the first book in this series.