Althea Moon was, informally, declared a murderer in her small town in New Hampshire. With this accusation came the downfall of the Moon Girl Farm, as well as the alienation and eventual departure of the youngest Moon: Elzibeth Moon, better known as Lizzy.

Years later, when Althea Moon dies, Lizzy comes back to the Moon Girl Farm, intending to tie up some loose ends, sell the farm, and return to her comfortable job in the city as a creative director to a perfume company. All the Moons seem to have a magical affinity towards something specific, and Lizzy excels with smells. 

Rediscovering the farm and remembering her ancestry makes Lizzy determined to set things straight in town. More specifically, she wants to prove to the whole town that her grandmother, Althea, was not the one who killed the two teenage girls found in the Moon Girl Farm pond. It was never in Althea’s nature to hurt anyone, much less kill two innocent girls.

So who were the real perpetrators? And are they still roaming free?

Spoilers Ahead

Focusing on the thriller aspect specifically, I enjoyed it for the fact that it surprised me. There were some red herrings thrown into the mix, so it made the final much less obvious, which is something I appreciated.

But what I absolutely adored the most is Lizzy’s character development as the story goes on. She arrives at the Moon Girl Farm clearly wanting to keep her distance from the farm and its memories. She has a lot of bad memories growing up at the farm, especially due to her mother, Rhanna. But Lizzy comes to forgive her mother again, despite all the hurt and pain caused by Rhanna’s inability to be an emotionally mature and stable adult. 

I deeply enjoyed Lizzy’s decision to fall in love with the boy-next-door, literally and figuratively, Andrew. He was presented as a guy who was always there for her, despite everything crazy going on in life. And he always pined for her, yearned for her, wanted to be with her regardless of the distance between them.

Lizzy definitely wants to keep her distance from Andrew at first because she probably always knew, deep down, that she was going to fall in love with the guy. I mean, who can blame her? Andrew is kind, understanding, intelligent, and he’s a handyman who helps people on the fly at no extra charge. Whenever Lizzy found herself in some trouble, she would turn to Andrew first in order to confide in him.

Slowly as the story progresses, it’s clear that the Moon Girl Farm has seeped itself back into Lizzy’s bloodstream no matter how hard she tries to fight it. Rhanna, her mother who had disappeared for years at that point, comes back to the farm and tries to make amends after Althea’s death. There’s also another character, Evvie, who was a friend of Althea’s and is maintaining the farm while Lizzy figures out what to do with it.

And Lizzy makes it clear for so long that she just wants to sell the farm, move on, and be done with her life. But it’s not that simple and I’m so glad Lizzy realized that. There’s so much beauty reconnecting with your roots. As Lizzy discovers more and more behind what happened to the two girls who died years ago, she also discovers more about Althea, her mother Rhanna, and herself. 

What was the most fascinating, and perhaps most frustrating part of this whole thing, is Lizzy’s determination to leave the Moon Girl Farm despite all the strides she was making within the farm. She was befriending the townsfolk again, she was making magical items for people that Althea used to make, she was really tapping into her magic. And still, she kept trying to convince herself that she was better off in New York.

Near the end of the novel, Lizzy figures out the true killers of the girls and it ended up being her neighbors, one of whom was already dead. So his brother was the one trying to keep the whole thing a secret, and he was also trying to intimidate Lizzy with threatening messages throughout the story. 

In a final showdown, Lizzy and the brother, Dennis, find themselves in the barnhouse. Dennis nearly kills Lizzy by setting the place on fire but Lizzy saves herself using her magic. The barn does burn, but Dennis catches on fire and he dies. Lizzy escapes with her life, thankfully.

Lizzy takes until the very end of the novel to realize that she doesn’t actually want to leave the Moon Girl Farm, and that’s because she’s fallen in love with the farm, her ancestry, and with Andrew. Her desire to be with Andrew is one of the most beautiful parts of this book, and it honestly brought me to tears near the end because I loved these two so much.

I know some other reviews called Andrew and Lizzy’s romance clichéd or whatever, but I don’t care. I found it charming all the same. When certain tropes are executed well, I enjoy them wholeheartedly, and this one is one such example. 

This whole book gave me a deep sense of peace, despite the fact that it is a murder mystery thriller at the end of the day. The author did an amazing job at setting the tone and setting for the novel, and I deeply adored the small town, countryside setting. Coupled with Andrew and Lizzy’s beautiful romance and their happily ever after, I was just so pleased with this book. 

I especially loved the author’s ability to weave in the presence of Lizzy’s ancestors, especially Althea, into the plot even though they’ve been long gone. But it’s through Lizzy that they live on, and you can definitely sense that. I’m so glad that, in the end, Lizzy was not the last of the Moon girls after all and their lineage still continues on.

I give this book five stars! Happy reading!