Sunday, March 8, 2015

One of Us by Tawni O'Dell



One of Us takes place in a Pennsylvania coal town, where the Nellie O’Neills (fictional name for the real Molly Maguires) were hung for standing up against cruelty by the mine owners in the 1800s. Danny Doyle, great-great-grandson of one of the Nellies, grew up poor, his mother mentally ill, his baby sister dead of mysterious causes, and his father abusive. His grandfather Tommy, however, loved and nurtured him, and Danny grew up and became a famous forensic psychologist in Philadelphia. He returns to his home town to check on his sick grandfather, and discovers the body of Simon Husk at the gallows.

Coincidentally, Scarlet Dawes, great-great-granddaughter of the mine owner who hung the Nellies, also returns to her home town around the same time. It is revealed early on that Scarlet is a psychopath and an evil murderer. Of course, she and Danny cross paths.

The town’s only detective and lifelong friend of Danny’s, Rafe Malloy, proceeds to investigate the murder of Simon Husk and another woman who is killed in her home, while Danny faces his demons. The dark secrets of the small town are slowly revealed in the story.

While it is a good story, there were several things that bothered me. I found it implausible that both Danny and Rafe knew Scarlet killed Marcella, but instead of bringing her in for questioning, Danny goes to lunch with her and asks her why she did it. It just wouldn’t happen that way in real life. And then there is the distraction of the “Ghost Sniffers” who are in town doing a TV show about the gallows. They are a strange and colorful bunch of characters with a supposed ghost-detecting fox terrier named Wade who is treated like a person. I found them to be silly and not really fitting into the story, and they served no real purpose. Also distracting was the overuse of designer names worn by both Danny and Scarlet.

The book is written in the first person, switching back and forth between Danny and Scarlet. There are twists and turns in the story that keep you turning the pages, and I didn’t see the ending coming. However, there are some questions left unanswered. I am giving this book four stars because I liked O’Dell’s Coal Run much better.

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