Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke

After the events of Bluebird, Bluebird, Darren Matthews is stuck in an office in Houston compiling evidence on the Arryan Brotherhood of Texas. His marriage has found stability, but his mother is blackmailing him about the location of the weapon used in the grand jury investigation. He appeases her with money, but it is a rickety relationship.

His short almost respite is entangled when Darren’s boss sends him to work a disappearance case in East Texas, close to the Louisiana border. Sure they want to find this young boy, but the Rangers would like to use this case as leverage to get info out of the Aryan Brotherhood father and his mother’s wanna-be white supremacist boyfriend. Darren enters the small town as an outsider. Things with his mother go haywire and this current case is messier than it seems. Darren is forced to cover multiple fronts while trying to control his drinking and understand the many layers of history and race in Marion County.

Wow! As impressed as I was with Bluebird, Bluebird, this mystery is an absolute page-turner. Its depth and immediacy to current politics and our conflicts as a nation are staggering. Locke’s writing possesses the raw energy of a man’s pursuit of a higher power. Towards justice or a moral compass. The honest ever-changing reflections that ring true for any person dealing a life’s conflicts wrapped in the history that is both familiar and of our nation.

If you are looking for a series of books to hold you in your seat and satisfy that regional mystery itch, the Darren Matthews books are awesome. I cannot recommend Heaven, My Home enough.

5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Mulholland Books, and the author for an advanced copy for review.