When a young man dies without an obvious cause, John Rafferty, chief of police in Salem, is forced to consider that the boy’s death may be related to a cold case murder called “The Goddess Murders.” On Halloween night in 1989, three young women, descendants of women accused and executed during the Salem Witch Trials, were brutally murdered. On that night in 1989, there were two surviving victims, and a history professor named Rose Whelan.
Now 25 years later, Callie Cahill has returned to Salem, no longer the scared orphaned five year old, convinced that Rose Whelan did not kill her mother all of those years ago. Now John Rafferty and Callie Cahill will work together to solve the mystery of “The Goddess Murders.”
This was a very interesting read for me. I remember learning about the Salem Witch Trials and reading “The Crucible” in high school. The fact that the entire town was stricken with hysteria amazes me. But those were different times, and we have come so far in the fields of science.
I found the story to be well constructed and developed. The overall pace was steady, enabling the reader to develop their own thoughts and perceptions on the 25 year old murder.
The settings were rich in details, making the locations come alive in the mind of the reader. A few of the locations were less detailed than others, however, these locations served small importance to the story line.
The characters were very interesting to me, especially the character of Callie Cahill who quickly became the most prominent main character. The synopsis on the back of the novel lead me to believe that John Rafferty was the main character, however, as the novel developed further, Callie took the lead. The personalities of the characters are well-rounded and easily believable. From Rose Whelan, who suffered mental trauma, to John Rafferty and his dark past.
Both of the mysteries were intriguing, though the death of the teenage boy was solved rather quickly with very little mystery, it launched further investigation into “The Goddess Murders” which ended up being the real mystery.
I was completely surprised by the big revelation at the end of the novel. For some time, I had believed another character was the murderer and I never even suspected the true culprit until the very end.
What I liked the least about this novel would be the lack of answers. The main mystery was solved and left very few unanswered questions, however, I was left with many questions about some of the characters themselves that I wish had been addressed.
I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a compelling mystery with a touch of history and the paranormal.
I received my copy of this novel from bloggingforbooks.com for the sole purpose of providing an honest review and have permission from the publishers at Broadway Books to use the image of the cover artwork featured above. 

​ Maddy is tired. The mother of three also works with abused women and tries to keep the peace at home. Her husband Ben is a public defender with a temper. Maddy never knows when something will set him off and she is constantly having to be on guard around him.
One day Maddy has to call Ben to pick her up. Ben is already upset and the rainy day isn’t making it any better. When Maddy and Ben get into an argument, his temper soars and they have a wreck that leaves Maddy in the hospital with a brain injury, fighting for her life.
Now Maddy and her family will have to learn how to live again, but can they?
I really did not like this novel.
The writing is well done and the characters are well developed and believable. Over all, the story is well researched and thought out, the explanations of Maddy’s diagnosis and all that she now has to go through. I have never had an easy time of understanding medical jargon and I was concerned that I would not be able to understand what was happening, but I was able understand it all. It was explained very well so that readers should have no trouble.
Personally, this was just not the book for me. The verbal abuse that Ben hurtled toward his various family members, and the fact that Maddy worked with abused women but was unable to see the abuse happening in her own home, was a major contender in why I wasn’t able to enjoy this book.
Other readers may enjoy this book very much, it is well written and the characters were well developed and realistic.
I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys difficult, realistic, contemporary fiction.
I won my copy of this novel from Goodreads Firstreads and I have permission from the publishers at Atria Books to use an image of the cover artwork above.