Dark Road Home by Anna Carlisle (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"The summer after she graduated from high school, Gin Sullivan's little sister Lily went missing. Her family fell apart, not to mention her relationship with her high school sweetheart, Jake. Now, almost twenty years later, Gin is living in Chicago and working as a medical examiner when she gets the call: a body's been found in the woods outside her small hometown. It could be her sister. After all these years, it's time for Gin to go home and face the demons she tried to leave behind.

Confronting your past is never easy, but for Gin it also means confronting Jake, who was the prime suspect in Lily's disappearance. To find an answer to the question of what happened to her sister that fateful summer, Gin makes the difficult decision to use her talents as a medical examiner to help the police investigation. But as Gin gets deeper into the case, she uncovers a shocking truth that could change everything--if it doesn't destroy what's left of her and her family first."

My Thoughts:

This is yet another of those books that was read last year but then got lost in the shuffle of my months long blogging break.  It is never too late though especially as I was excited to see that there is a second book releasing later this year!  I'm pumped!  I really enjoyed this debut mystery as it had some of the things I love most including family secrets and a past that the main character just can't get away from.  I found that I was easily drawn into this book from the very beginning.  There was just something about Gin's character that I really liked.  She was being forced to re-examine her past and the things that happened that summer when her sister disappeared.  This is all something that she had tried to put behind her and now everything is coming to the surface once again.  Add to that the fact that she is also coming across her ex-boyfriend with whom she still has some feelings for but who was also the last person that was seen with Lily.  It was just about perfect if I do say so myself.  I found this book to be a good suspenseful read that kept me guessing.  I was positive about halfway through the book that I had everything figured out but of course I was wrong.  Ha!  Instead I had a part of it right but not the real mystery so it worked out really well.  I actually really liked the way that this book ended and it left me excited that this is just the beginning to this new mystery series!

Overall, I find that I'm really excited about this author and series in general.  I feel like it really has a ton of potential especially as Gin is such a great main character to read about.  I've already added the second book to my TBR list and am waiting impatiently for it.  I'm hoping that we continue to see some of the characters from this book besides Gin in future books as well.  In particular more of Jake would be nice but I won't say more than that.  I can easily recommend this book to other readers but especially to those who enjoy a good mystery.  Recommended!

Bottom Line:  A strong beginning to this new mystery series.  I need more!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and Netgalley.